Mashup: House Republicans stand united in support of I-2113, to restore vehicular police pursuits

how many lives have to be endangered on the road because criminals won't stop for the police back in 2022 Seattle Police tried to pull over a suspected hostage taker and they received this 911 phone call Mr Speaker from the caller SPD is illegally chasing me over here and I don't know what to do sir are you able to pull over and talk to officers no it is an illegal Pursuit and my license is suspended and this is an illegal Pursuit they're not supposed to be able to pursue the dispatcher asks what do you want me to do for you make sure they stop chasing us Mr Speaker I don't think the underlying legislation that this is amending ever intended for that to happen but that's exactly what had happened countless times across the state we have an opportunity today to fix that mistake and I'm proudly voting yes because I trust our law enforcement Community to make the right calls to make the right decisions to keep our public safe we have to send a message to people across this state if you violate our laws and you attempt to evade them you will be taken into custody and you will be prosecuted this initiative is the single most important step that we can take to fight crime and to restore Public Safety in our neighborhoods and communities all around Washington Mr Speaker when I've spoken to people in law enforcement around this state they have told me that this reform will not only help them fight crime and lower Rising crime rates but it will restore the bond of trust between the people and law enforcement and Mr Speaker that will yield good results for everyone there are some realities in our state that I'm not proud of Mr Speaker I am not proud that Washington State St is number three in the nation for incidents of vehicle theft I am not proud that Washington state is number two in the nation for larsy theft number two in the nation for property theft highest in the nation for impacts of retail theft and the lowest or among the lowest in the nation for law enforcement officers per capita I'm not proud of any of those things nor indeed is my community I hear it from law enforcement I hear it from law enforcement leadership and as has been said before most importantly I hear it from my friends and neighbors who are living in the conditions that have been created for them we warned that this was going to happen people in my district were were contacting me worried about the results of how this was going to happen there's a lot of talk about our officers going through training and I fully 100% agree that yes they do need to go through training however Mr Speaker we never talk about what is expected from the people in our community people that are fleeing the police shouldn't feel empowered to do that Mr Speaker because people die or they get injured when that happens that's why the people of Washington state rose up and said enough enough the facts are Mr Speaker that the body pass policy in the state of Washington that hurt the people of Washington state do not impune the uh other members of the policy by stating that the members of the body that previous policies have hurt people of the state of Washington please proceed violent crime has increased 19% please proceed homicide 61% aggravated assault 29% my definition of hurt Mr Speaker is the victims of the state of Washington I heard from the other side today that this bill is nonsense people dying in the state of Washington is not nonsense Mr Speaker the facts are the statistics I just read those are victims attached Mr Speaker those are mothers and fathers and daughters and sons and family members Mr Speaker Mr Speaker I have stood up on the house floor repeatedly this year and we have reduced sentences for criminals and I have yet to hear why Mr Speaker I'd like to thank the 400,000 plus people who had the courage to sign on the dotted line because we and the Washington State Legislature did not put them first Mr Speaker this bill does because they stepped up Mr Speaker the people have spoken my Sheriff here in thirston County said it the best he said it's not about the pursuit it's about the risk that the criminal knows that there will be a Pursuit it's the consequence as a good gentleman from the 14th said we need the criminals and Washington State know there will be consequences for their actions and today we will take a step to get us closer to that I encourage your support how do we stop crime if criminals can just drive away I hope you'll stand with a strong yes with me today and realize that by passing this we're once again able to take the handcuffs off of law enforcement to do their job and put them back on the criminals who break the law I'm grateful that when the policies of this body conflict with common sense that the voters have been given an opportunity to make it right with the initiative process I believe today is going to be a great step in honoring those people who did the work and Gathering those signatures it wasn't easy for them they gave up a lot of time to sit in the mall sit out in front of stores to gather these and to talk to people about the importance of how we can change the law Mr Speaker it's a good day to vote Yes on this initiative I'm proud that we live in a state where the people of our state have more power than anyone under this Dome and that over 400,000 of them can sign on the dotted line and make us listen