KING COUNTY, Wash. — The King County Sheriff's Office (KCSO) has released its plan for when officers will be allowed to initiate a vehicle pursuit with suspects.
KCSO will still restrict vehicle pursuits to dangerous felonies and DUIs but has also opted to add burglary to its list.
This means suspects in smash and grabs could be chased by law enforcement officers, which is something that business owners told KCSO they hoped would change.
Washington passed a state law in 2021 that only allowed law enforcement to engage in a vehicle pursuit when there was probable cause that the suspect had committed a violent offense. An initiative that passed through the legislature last session rolled back those changes, now allowing law enforcement to engage whenever there is a reasonable suspicion that a person has violated the law.
KCSO said the most important factor in whether or not to engage in a pursuit is still the risk to the community. Deputies will still be required to weigh the danger of a vehicle pursuit versus the danger of failing to apprehend a suspect.
"KCSO's vehicular pursuit policy has historically been more restrictive than the state law and that's worked well for us," Undersheriff Jesse Anderson said. "It was important for us to listen to community members asking us to go after dangerous criminals putting people at risk. That really helped drive our decision."
KCSO data shows that suspects were less willing to stop when deputies attempted to pull them over after the restrictions on police pursuits went into place.
Before the 2021 legislation, 41 suspects refused to stop per quarter. Between 2021 and 2023, 138 suspects refused to stop per quarter.
The new policy covers all of unincorporated King County, as well as the 12 cities that contract with the sheriff's office.