New State Law BANS Police From Protecting the Public

[rebewranger]

 New State Law BANS Police From Protecting the Public

by
admin
June 3, 2022

 
Washington state drivers are now refusing to pull over when asked by police after the state approved a law to constrain police officers.
 
The Northwest News Network has recorded over 1,000 failure-to-yield incidents this year and patrol officers have described a drastic increase in motorists driving away from traffic stops refusing to pull over, speeding away in stolen cars in some circumstances.
 
Washington House Bill 1054 was signed into law last year by Governor Jay Inslee (D.) and now bans police from pursuing traffic violators in their vehicles unless the officer is given permission by a supervisor, the individual is suspected to be under the influence of a substance, has committed a violent offense, is causing immediate danger, or must be identified.

“Something’s changed. People are not stopping right now,” a Washington State Patrol sergeant told the Associated Press. “It’s happening three to five times a shift on some nights and then a couple times a week on day shift.”
 
https://gopnewsfeed.com/new-state-law-bans-police-from-protecting-the-public/?utm_source=GNF%20BS3%20RC%200522&GNF_BS3_MASTER_2022=

[The_Reader_David]

The headline is a lie.  The law bans police pursuits without supervisor approval in some circumstances.  In as much as a police pursuit is often a danger to the public, the ban itself arguably protect the public.

As to police not protecting the public, however much we may want to blame looney left politicians for it, the blame lies solidly with the Supreme Court, thanks to the precedents in The Town of Castle Rock v. Gonzales and Deshaney v. Winnebago County Department of Social Services.  (And Scalia wrote the majority opinion in the first of those.)