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GENERAL VALLEY NEWS | |
IN RESPONSE TO POLICE SHOOTINGS HOUSES PASSES NEW LAW ENFORCEMENT BILLS
February 04, 2010
(OLYMPIA, WA) – With family members of fallen police officers in the gallery, the State House of Representatives Wednesday passed five new public safety laws designed to better protect the public and take care of loved ones left behind when a police officer or firefighter dies in the line of duty.
"We will never forget those who served or the families they leave behind," said Rep. Christopher Hurst (D-Enumclaw), who spoke on the floor of his years as an undercover detective, with his wife and family worried about the day that he wouldn't come home.
Six police officers in Washington State were shot and killed in 2009, with four police officers dying at one time at the hands of ex-convict Maurice Clemmons in the largest mass slaying police officers in state history.
The five laws passed by the House are:
~ HB 1203 Toughening penalties for the crime of rendering criminal assistance
~ HB 1679 Catastrophic benefits for police officers and firefighters completely disabled and unable to work due to an injury in the line of duty
~ HB 2625 Ending the practice of booking bail, where suspects can post bail according to a formula, without seeing a judge at all
~ HB 2422 Giving victims notice when criminally insane escape from a state institution
~ HB 2519 Death benefits for the families of fallen police officers and firefighters
Rep. Troy Kelley (D-Lakewood) said his law, House Bill 2625, would end the practice of “booking bail”, which allowed Lakewood shooter Maurice Clemmons to post bail on the weekend without seeing a judge.
"Requiring a judge’s approval will help us respond quickly, yet rationally, to recent tragedies in our law enforcement community," Kelley said.
In 32 of 39 Washington State counties, this is the law today.
On November 29, 2009 four Lakewood, Washington police officers were shot to death execution style executed in a coffee shop by Maurice Clemmons,a man who had been pardoned from a life sentence by ex-Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas.
On October 31, 2009 Seattle police officer Timothy Brenton was shot and killed as he sat in his patrol car in Seattle with a trainee he was instructing. The trainee was wounded but survived.
And on December 21, 2009 Pierce County sheriff Sgt. Nick Hausner and Deputy Kent Mundell were shot by a man after responding to a domestic violence call. ; Mundell died. Hausner survived his wounds.
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