Deadline looms in Olympia for certain bills to be considered or passed out of House

Deadline looms in Olympia for bills to be considered or passed out of the House

One of the bigger issues lawmakers are paying attention to are bills that would change the 2021 Blake decision, which limited police pursuits.

OLYMPIA, Wash. - All eyes have been on Olympia this legislative session as bills that would change how police handle drugs, and car chases have taken center stage.

However, as the halfway point of the session arrives, there is a scramble to get dozens of bills a vote ahead of the March 8 cut-off period for bills originating in the House.

"All the oxygen in Olympia has been consumed by other, much more controversial pieces of legislation," said Gabe Galanda, an Indigenous rights attorney.

Galanda is concerned that legislators have missed the importance of other bills – including House Bill 1369, a bill that allows Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife (WDFW) officers to work security and other private law enforcement while off-duty in uniform.

The bill drew no criticism in the early stages of the session. The only person to testify during public comment was Lt. Erik Olson, a supervisor for WDFW Region 4. Olson, testifying in favor of the bill, said off-duty uniformed officers ensure public safety.

Rep. Dan Griffey (R-Allyn), the sponsor of the Bill, told FOX 13 that the bill was important because of a drop in law enforcement officers. According to Griffey, many officers are working overtime at their day job, leaving gaps for private security at sporting events and at construction sites where uniformed officers traditionally work after-hours.

"This is something Washington State Patrol has been doing forever," said Griffey.

The concerns raised by Galanda include both the amount of training WDFW officers receive compared to their counterparts, and a history of biased enforcement dating back to the civil rights campaign, which birthed the "Fish Wars," when treat-rights fishermen were beaten, arrested and jailed for exercising treaty rights.

"These are fish and game officers," said Galanda. "Not the type of police we’d be accustomed to see in the streets, cities and towns in Washington. They are not trained to deal with the public as their counter-parts. Indian Country has always dealt with Trojan horses, this could be the latest Trojan horse."

Griffey told FOX 13 that he understands the need for healthy debate, but said the concerns were unfounded.

"They go through the same basic law enforcement training as fully commissioned officers in Washington state," said Griffey. "I do not believe there should be the concern that is going out there."

A key concern Galanda has shared with lawmakers revolves around anti-bias, and de-escalation training. Lt. Olson said that beginning in 2021 all law enforcement officers in the state were required to do critical incident training after RCW 43.101.020 was amended.

The statute outlines steps the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission would take to offer training sessions on personal crisis intervention and crisis intervention services. Questions to the commission about whether these trainings are utilized as anti-bias and de-escalation were not answered at the time of this posting.