Police vehicle pursuits mostly on pause in Seattle due to lack of training

A new law intended to loosen some restrictions on police vehicle pursuits may have the effect of curtailing those pursuits instead.

After the murder of George Floyd, Washington state in 2021 established guidelines allowing police to engage in vehicle pursuit only in specific instances.

On May 3, Gov. Jay Inslee signed into law Senate Bill 5352, which loosened the restrictions, but required that officers take specific training courses before they can engage in pursuits.

Hours later, Seattle Police Chief Adrian Diaz wrote in an email to staff that effective immediately no Seattle officer may engage in a vehicle pursuit unless the officer had the training required by Senate Bill 5352. Sources within the department say very few officers have taken this training yet, and that it may take a significant amount of time to get more officers to complete the training.

“We fully understand the risks associated with suspending pursuits for the vast majority of the department,” Diaz wrote. “We are also mindful of the risk to our employees and to the department for not complying with state law.”