Federal Way will ask for more discretion in police pursuits, funding for local traffic projects, and lowered barriers to building condominiums during the coming state legislative session.
The city’s goals also include fixing the Blake decision gap, keeping zoning decisions local, and creating more access to behavioral, mental health and addiction services. City officials presented those goals during the Dec. 6 council meeting; council members made small tweaks and additions to the suggestions, but overall supported the city’s priorities.
The priorities demonstrate what kind of change city leaders want from Olympia. Like many cities across Washington, public safety earns top billing in the city’s wish list, though major infrastructure projects and efforts to guide development in the city were also pegged as major goals.
The state Legislature convenes on Jan. 9 for a 105-day “long” session because 2023 is a state budget year.
The city outlined the following topics.
Law enforcement
High-speed pursuits: The city supports using “reasonable suspicion” as the standard for police vehicle pursuits instead of the “probable cause” standard adopted by the Legislature in 2021 via HB 1054.
The 2021 bill limited officers to pursuits only when they had “probable cause” — direct evidence and knowledge of criminal activity — that someone in the vehicle had committed a violent offense, sex offense, or escape. It maintained the “reasonable suspicion” standard for DUI offenses. High-speed pursuits are risky, and departments historically have had varying rules on when officers can engage in them.
Critics of the bill in 2021 said it emboldened criminals. Car thefts and the number of suspects dangerously fleeing police has risen since that change, the city noted. Supporters of the reform pointed to a marked reduction in deaths stemming from those high-speed pursuits.
The city’s position is that the standard should be “reasonable suspicion” for violent crimes, sex crimes, escapes and automobile thefts, returning more autonomy to officers to decide when to engage in a pursuit.
The Blake decision: The city supports resolving the Blake decision by allowing arrests the first time police detain someone for drugs, and bringing the courts and diversion system back into the picture.
In the court case State v. Blake, the state Supreme Court ruled in 2021 that Washington’s law on simple drug possession was unconstitutional because someone could be convicted of possessing a drug that they didn’t even know they had. As a result, simple drug possession was no longer a crime, creating a gap in the law the Legislature patched with HB 5476. That stopgap bill made simple possession a misdemeanor and required offenders to get at least two chances to be diverted to services in lieu of jail and charges before being arrested for drug possession.
But the stopgap was designed to expire by July next year, obligating lawmakers to come up with a more permanent solution to the Blake gap. If they don’t, the existing statute will expire and drug possession will essentially be decriminalized in Washington.
The city’s suggestion: Allow officers to make drug possession arrests the first time someone’s detained for it. Keep the criminal justice system in the picture and keep using diversion court systems to hold people accountable, get them help and keep a record of their offenses. Set simple possession of illegal drugs to a gross misdemeanor, a compromise below its original status as a felony. And boost state funding for drug treatment programs in the courts, jails and through law enforcement.
Land use
Oppose legislation that would mandate highly strict, prescriptive land use regulations on local governments. The state should provide incentives to cities for creating high-density zoning rather than mandating those zoning standards, and leave zoning decisions to local officials, according to the city.
Support laws that lower regulatory barriers to building affordable condos, and improve the market for building condos statewide, to encourage home ownership for middle-class people in the city more broadly.
Lobby for funding for key infrastructure projects, including $50 million for the City Center Access project, $20 million for traffic improvements to the SW 336th- SW 340th corridor, and $5 million to increase circulation and traffic capacity in downtown Federal Way.
Ask for $1.8 million to help complete turf fields at Celebration Park. The city has already set aside $1.2 million for the turf project.
Other
Support greater access to behavioral and mental health services and addiction recovery, and funding to support response programs like crisis responders who can work alongside law enforcement.
