(Olympia, WA), A bill that seeks to establish parameters for volunteers acting on behalf of a local sheriff’s office had a public hearing at the Washington State Legislature on Monday.
The legislation comes two months after InvestigateWest profiled Klickitat County Sheriff Bob Songer and his posse of over 100 volunteers who assist with anything from administrative tasks to controversial cougar hunts.
Sheriff’s volunteers, sometimes called specially commissioned officers or posse members, often assist law enforcement agencies with security at community events, traffic control, and search and rescue operations. But in some areas, the volunteer role in law enforcement activities has grown, raising concerns around training, liability and accountability.
The bill, House Bill 1399, would not allow volunteers to assist in law enforcement actions, including the “carrying of firearms or other weapons, the detention and arrest of others, and the use of force and deadly force,” unless the person has completed peace officer training and certification requirements, according to the bill. While the bill doesn’t specifically define what would fall under “law enforcement activities,” it would require agencies to include policies that lay out permissible roles.
The bill will be voted on by lawmakers in the House Committee on Community Safety on Feb. 6. If approved, it will move either to another House committee or to the entire House chamber.
Thirty-two people signed up to testify on the bill, most of whom supported the legislation. A similar bill, Senate Bill 5364, was also introduced in the Senate.
“Our sheriff’s office has more than 150 volunteers who are regularly put in situations where they are expected to exercise police power,” said Michelle Nijhuis, a longtime resident of Klickitat County.
“This large core of volunteers, while it’s intended to increase public safety, the wide variety of training and experience levels has in fact created more fear and distrust of local law enforcement within our communities, and it’s undermined law enforcement’s ability to protect us,” she added.
Songer is part of the “constitutional sheriff” movement and asserts that he and other sheriffs have the authority to decide which state or federal laws to enforce.
James McMahon, policy director with the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs, spoke in opposition to the bill during the public testimony and requested that the bill sponsor remove the section that relates to volunteers, stating that including them in the bill will have “public safety consequences.”
“We adamantly oppose the provisions of this bill, and we ask that you do as well,” he told lawmakers.
Candice Bock, representing the Association of Washington Cities, was neutral on the bill but said that she hopes it would still allow volunteers to participate in programs such as parking enforcement and traffic control because those are “cost savers” for local governments.
