AN ACT Relating to providing for development of policy recommendations for the use of deadly force by a public officer or peace officer; creating new sections; and providing an expiration date.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

The legislature finds that the current law on deadly force in Washington lacks clarity for law enforcement on when deadly force is justifiable. It is the intent of the legislature to align our deadly force law with other statutes in our criminal laws and analogous laws in other states, while giving law enforcement clear guidance on when use of deadly force is justifiable and when it is not. Such clear guidance will benefit both law enforcement officers and the communities they protect, and will result in a law that upholds the role of law enforcement to maintain public safety and foster accountability and public trust.

(i)(A) The president of the senate shall appoint one member from each of the two largest caucuses of the senate.

(B) The speaker of the house of representatives shall appoint one member from each of the two largest caucuses of the house of representatives.

(C) At least one of the legislative members must be from the "members of color caucus."

(ii) Each of the following organizations shall be asked to appoint one member:

(A) Black alliance of Thurston county;

(B) Latino civic alliance;

(C) American civil liberties union;

(D) NAACP;

(E) Commission on African American affairs;

(F) Commission on Asian Pacific American affairs;

(G) Commission on Hispanic affairs;

(H) Governor's office of Indian affairs;

(I) Washington state criminal justice training commission;

(J) Washington association of sheriffs and police chiefs;

(K) Washington council of police and sheriffs;

(L) Washington gender and justice commission;

(M) Washington interpreter commission;

(N) Washington state minority and justice commission;

(O) Association of Washington cities;

(P) Washington state association of counties;

(Q) Washington association of prosecuting attorneys; and

(R) Washington defender association.

(b) The task force shall choose its chair or cochairs from among its membership. The institute shall convene the initial meeting of the task force.

(2) The task force shall review laws, practices, and training programs regarding the use of deadly force in Washington state and in the other forty-nine states, the civil rights issues associated with the use of deadly force, any disproportionate impacts on minority communities from the use of deadly force, and other issues that arise for police and prosecutors. The institute shall review research literature on policies or interventions that include de-escalation tactics and reduce the use of lethal force. The task force shall consider the Amnesty International Report from June 2015 entitled "Deadly Force: Police Use of Lethal Force in the United States" as an approach to benchmark Washington's law in terms of civil rights requirement. The task force shall prepare recommendations to the legislature on changes to RCW 9A.16.040 and related statutes and funding proposals that would bring Washington's laws, practices, and training programs into conformance with principles of necessity and proportionality. The task force shall review the definition of "necessary" in RCW 9A.16.010 to evaluate how it could provide direction to encourage the use of less lethal alternatives such as de-escalation and encourage deadly force only when a threat is "imminent." The task force shall review whether the standards for the use of deadly force should include the concept of "imminent" threat of serious physical harm. The review shall include a discussion of the training needed to bring about the recommended changes. The task force shall review other areas directly related to the use of deadly force, such as statutory changes and training curriculum needed to bring greater transparency and accountability to the use of deadly force. The recommendations shall include draft legislation for the areas of review.

(3) Staff support for the task force shall be provided by the Washington institute for public policy, senate committee services, and the house of representatives office of program research. Consultants may be hired to assist.

(4) Legislative members of the task force must be reimbursed for travel expenses in accordance with RCW 44.04.120. Nonlegislative members, except those representing an employer or organization, are entitled to be reimbursed for travel expenses in accordance with RCW 43.03.050 and 43.03.060.

(5) The task force shall report its findings and recommendations to the governor and the appropriate committees of the legislature by December 1, 2016.

(6) This section expires December 31, 2016.

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