Background

Washington’s Initiative 940 was approved by voters in November with wide-ranging community support, but the journey to implement its police reforms isn’t over. Right now, you have a chance to have a say in how those reforms will work.

The Washington Criminal Justice Training Commission (WSCJTC), the public organization that provides training for law enforcement in Washington, has been tasked with creating rules for how to implement increased de-escalation, crisis intervention, cultural competency, and first aid training requirements. Later this year, they’ll also decide how the mandated independent investigations of serious and deadly uses of force will work.

It plans to adopt rules about how training will work by June 6. Then, it plans to adopt rules for independent investigations by December 6. To do that, the WSCJTC has convened dozens of community groups and leaders to advise them, including the CPC.

The WSCJTC also wants to hear from you. They’re accepting public comment through their online portal.

 

Rules

The WSCJTC is focusing on the training aspect of I-940 first. They’ve already published a draft set of rules for that program. Here’s some of the broader points:

• Mandatory training would start in early December
• New law enforcement officers would have to complete 200 hours of de-escalation and mental health training in their first 15 months on the job
• Washington law enforcement officer hired before December would have to complete 40 hours of de-escalation training every three years
• The curriculum for the training will be approved by the WSCJTC in partnership with experts from across the state
• The training will be delivered by WSCJTC trainers who have completed an 80 hour “train the trainer” course and by other trainers from outside of law enforcement
• Law enforcement agencies can do their own training programs for officers, if its similar and meets the requirements of the training the WSCJTC does

Read the full list of rules here. If you have a comment about any of it, submit it through their online portal.

 

Timeline

Here’s the timeline and key dates to look out for.

• April 11: NAACP community discussion on training in Kent
• May 9: NAACP community discussion on training in Federal Way
• May 23: A public hearing in Spokane to talk about the proposed rules for training
• June 6: WSCJTC meeting in Burien for the final adoption of the rules for training
• June – August: Meeting of community groups and leaders to talk about the proposed rules for independent investigations
• October 9: A public hearing to talk about the proposed rules for independent investigations
• December 6: WSCJTC meeting for final adoption of the rules for independent investigations