WA Senate passes ban on police face coverings

OLYMPIA [Jake Goldstein-Street]—The Washington state Senate voted Wednesday to ban law enforcement from covering their faces in response to growing concerns over masked federal immigration agents. Senate Bill 5855 would cover local, state and federal law enforcement, with limited exceptions for uses like personal protective equipment and undercover or SWAT operations. The proposal is sure to […]
New State Office of Independent Investigations to investigate first use-of-deadly-force incident

OLYMPIA—The Washington State Office of Independent Investigations (OII) will soon begin its first investigation since the agency was created by the state legislature in 2021 in the wake of national calls for accountable use of force following the death of George Floyd and national riots that followed in the summer of 2020. OII is to […]