Police vehicle pursuits banned in Seattle except for officers with specific departmental training: Police source

Police vehicle pursuits have been banned in Seattle as of Wednesday except for officers who have undergone specific departmental training, a police source told KOMO-TV.

What are the details?

The station said a source with the Seattle Police Department revealed that no officer is allowed to engage in a pursuit unless the officer has been trained in an Emergency Vehicle Operator Course or Pursuit Intervention Technique (aka PIT Technique) while employed by the department.

The source also told KOMO that a pursuit must meet all department policy requirements as well.

The station said police provided a statement:

With the passing of the Washington State Senate Bill 5352, the Seattle Police Department is complying with the new legislative restrictions while working to better understand them. SPD is conferring with other agencies, the Criminal Justice Training Commission, and the City Attorney’s Office to ensure that SPD’s pursuit policy remains consistent with all laws and that SPD officers have the training and tools they need to conduct pursuits under the new standards.

KOMO said the new Seattle police pursuit policy actually comes on the heels of Democrat Washington Gov. Jay Inslee rolling back some police vehicle pursuit requirements.

The station said the state enacted a "controversial" police pursuit policy at the height of nationwide protests following the death of George Floyd in 2020. But now, KOMO said, police in Washington state no longer need probable cause to begin a pursuit; instead all that's required is reasonable suspicion that a person in a vehicle has committed or is committing a crime.

Anything else?

Conservative commentator Jason Rantz said the restrictive police pursuit policy was handed down by Seattle Police Chief Adrian Diaz.

Diaz was sworn in as chief in January after serving as interim chief since 2020.

That year, Carmen Best — Seattle's first black police chief — denounced "mob rule" in the city amid Black Lives Matter demonstrations and was targeted by "aggressive protesters." But she resigned in 2020, just hours after city council voted 7-1 to cut the police department's annual budget by about $3 million.

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