Initiative on use of deadly force passes with revisions

Joe Teehan

KGMIAP Photo/Ted S. WarrenLaw enforcement officers gather at Tacoma General Hospital, where a police officer was taken after being shot while responding to a call on Nov. 30, 2016, in Tacoma.

1-25-2019

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — The Washington House of Representatives has unanimously approved revisions to Initiative 940, the measure voters passed last November that would make it easier to prosecute police officers for negligent shootings.

Q13 reports the vote came Thursday on a bill that aims to restore legislation struck down by the Washington Supreme Court.

The changes state that to be protected from criminal liability, the use of deadly force by an officer must be in good faith, considering the circumstances and whether a reasonable officer would have believed it necessary.

Other changes require the state to reimburse an officer for legal fees if the officer is acquitted and alter the language concerning an officer’s duty to render first aid.