Police pursuit initiative may be headed to state’s 2024 ballot

Washington voters could soon help decide when police can engage in high-speed pursuits of criminal suspects.

The issue has been center stage for several years after new laws restricted many of those chases.

Gov. Inslee signed off on revisions to the law that again allowed law enforcement to chase suspects.

The revisions would allow high-speed chases on Interstate 5, allowing police to pursue someone if they have probable cause of certain types of crimes — violent or sexual crimes, and DUI.

Stolen cars are a different story though. Chases would not be allowed in those cases because they are property crimes.

People in Pierce County saw one of the most recent examples of a crime that involved some level of pursuit. A deputy had a close call after a shootout and standoff near Midland.

Witnesses say they saw deputies zoom by a house while trying to catch the suspect. Investigators told us there was about a four-mile pursuit — starting at 112th Street East and Vickerry Avenue — before the standoff and shooting.

Pierce County Sheriff’s Department spokesperson Sgt. Darren Moss — who has often spoken about the issue of pursuits and the need for them — described the situation that the deputies dealt with in that incident.

“Two of our graveyard deputies were on patrol, they saw a vehicle they thought was possibly DUI, attempted a traffic stop and that vehicle took off,” said Moss.

There has been a back-and-forth on the issue for years. Limits on police chases were put in place by lawmakers in 2021.

The laws were softened this year, but law enforcement still doesn’t have local control over pursuits.

Lawmakers who wanted to limit police pursuits are still concerned that chases on roads like I-5 will create dangerous situations for drivers, especially if there are crashes.

In May, Inslee said that allowing some chases would increase public safety.

A petition is circulating that people can sign if they want the issue to end up on the ballot. It’s already gained enough signatures, according to the group that wants to change the laws yet again.

People who put the limits in place say that ending risky pursuits made roads like I-5 safer for drivers.

Voters could have the ultimate say though. There’s still time to sign the petition. According to the group behind the ballot initiative — Let’s Go Washington — the petition can be signed until Dec. 29.

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