police reform

When a police officer does something wrong, one option is decertification – taking away their badge and gun, for good. But there are some hurdles.

Lawmakers failed to pass all three of the Washington Coalition for Police Accountability’s top priorities.

Reporters from The Walk Home podcast, covering the life and death of Manny Ellis, reflect on the final episode and the end of the project.

Lawmakers are plowing ahead with three high-profile voter initiatives. The Legislature plans to take a final vote on the measures Monday, despite concerns from members of the Democratic majority.

The vote Tuesday came nearly four years after Manuel Ellis, a 33-year-old Black man, died in Tacoma facedown with his hands and feet cuffed together behind him.

Democratic Sen. Yasmin Trudeau has sponsored the bill, saying she doesn’t want anyone else to experience the “dehumanization” Ellis faced before his death.

Tacoma City Council approved a police union contract the same day the city's police chief cleared the three officers recently acquitted in the March 2020 death of Manny Ellis.

Democratic and Republican lawmakers want to work on climate, public safety, education and transportation. The measures could affect what gets accomplished.

Police accountability advocates question whether departments are moving fast enough to get officers through the program, which is required under a measure voters approved in 2018.

As of Friday's vote count, leading candidates in Seattle, Tacoma, Olympia, Bellingham and Spokane support some form of sending unarmed civilians to respond to mental health crises and other nonviolent incidents.