Last week, HB 1054, which restricts the tools and tactics available to police, was voted out of the Senate Law & Justice Committee. Unfortunately, the bill received an amendment that jeopardizes AWC’s ability to continue to support it, despite hard-won negotiations achieved this session.

AWC has worked for months to define and clarify the bill’s language specifically regarding when a law enforcement officer may engage in a vehicle pursuit. After much compromise on the part of all parties, AWC was happy to reach an agreement supported by the bill’s prime sponsor and other key House members.

We were thus disappointed to see an amendment adopted last week in the Law & Justice Committee that changes the standard for a vehicle pursuit from one of “reasonable suspicion” to that of requiring an officer have “probable cause” to believe a crime has been committed. The crime of domestic violence was also removed from the list of specific crimes that qualify for a vehicle pursuit.

The change from a reasonable suspicion to probable cause, and the removal of domestic violence language, creates a standard in the bill that AWC cannot support. The amendment is especially troubling to us in light of all of the work and compromise that has taken place. We have communicated our concerns to the House prime sponsor and to the sponsor of the amendment, Senator Jamie Pedersen.

AWC thanks you for your patience as we negotiate these important bills. We will continue to work to address our concerns and stay engaged for the immediate future in negotiations. We hope to have positive news on the police reform front to report to you soon.