An initiative (I-940) that would change the standard for the use of deadly force by law enforcement had a public hearing during the evening of February 20. The initiative process, authorized under our state Constitution, allows the people to submit a proposed law to the Legislature. Once the initiative is certified as having sufficient signatures, the Legislature must take one of the following three actions:
- Adopt the initiative as proposed, in which case it becomes law;
- Approve an alternative to the proposed initiative, in which case both the original proposal and the Legislature’s alternative must be placed on the ballot at the next general election; or
- Reject or refuse to act on the proposed initiative, in which case the initiative must be placed on the ballot at the next general election.
I-940 proposes the following changes to current law:
- Use of deadly force must be rendered in good faith. The use of deadly force by a law enforcement officer is justifiable if the officer’s action meets a good faith standard. The proposed standard has two parts:
- Reasonable officer test – A reasonable officer, considering all the facts and circumstances known to the officer at the time, would have believed that the use of deadly force was necessary to prevent death or serious physical harm to the officer or another individual.
- Actual intent – If the officer intended to use deadly force for a lawful purpose and sincerely and in good faith believed that the use of deadly force was warranted in the circumstance.
- Duty to render first aid. States that all law enforcement personnel have a paramount duty to preserve the life of persons law enforcement officers encounter and must render first aid.
- Mandatory violence de-escalation and mental health training. Requires that all law enforcement officers in the state must receive violence de-escalation training and mental health training. Newly-hired officers must complete training within the first 15 months of employment. The bill includes provisions for establishing training curriculum.
The proposal requires the Criminal Justice Training Commission (CJTC) to adopt rules necessary to carry out I-940. In adopting rules, the CJTC must seek input from relevant stakeholders and shall consider the use of negotiated rulemaking.
The public hearing on I-940 can be viewed on TVW.