Instead of posting this in three separate threads I am posting this here
Today the House Public Safety heard the three bills regarding expansion of law enforcement authority for the DNR, State Parks, and Liquor Control Board. As of right now DNR and Parks LE staff have full LE authority on their agency lands, LCB is limited to enforcing all liquor, some cigarette/tobacco, and some drug laws throughout the state. These bills would give full law enforcement authority to these three agencies, no matter what land ownership there is, similar to WDFW and WSP.
If you are against this legislation you may want to stop reading here…..
I watched the hearing and it appears all pieces of legislation will move on. If these bills are not passed this year, it is coming. There was a lot of support from LE, representatives and the community.
The first actual speaker on all three bills was WDFW Law Enforcement Chief Bruce Bjork who testified in favor of the bill. He basically said it promotes public safety, allows for more interagency cooperation, etc. Interesting note, about 8 years ago he testified against a similar DNR bill
Sheriff Dave Brown of Skamania County and a rep from the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs (WASPC) then spoke in opposition to the bills, they were the only two people opposed to any of the bills. (
I had previously mentioned that according to the WASPC website they were in favor the DNR bill, apparently that is an error.) Sheriff Brown has been the leader in keeping state/federal agencies from expanding LE powers. Just some more background knowledge, last year Brown was President of the State Sheriffs Association and represented them at a similar bill last year for DNR. This year he represented himself and the Association had no rep testify. Another organization, Washington Council of Police and Sheriffs (WACOPS) is an organization that represents law enforcement personnel from the newest rookie officer to the to-be retired Sheriff; they are in favor of these bills. The difference between WASPC and WACOPS is that WASPC is for Chief/Sheriffs only, WACOPS represents all LE personnel.
Compared to last year, the house representatives really hammered Brown this year and from what I have heard, he was not looking too happy after testimony. It seemed like many representatives were getting upset at his answers, and I think one rep even said “this sounds like a turf war.”
DNR’s bill was first. DNR Officers Chris Rankin, Jason Bodine, James McCarthy, and Chief Larry Raedel testified. A DNR manager testified as well. A lot of examples were given and the committee seemed to like their answers.
Parks’ bill was second. The Parks LE Chief Ingram and a Parks manager testified. Four current and former LE Park Rangers testified and gave many examples. Once again, the committee seemed to like their answers.
Liquor Control Board’s bill was last and they had the most in attendance. LCB Sergeant’s Lorn Richey and John Wilson testified as did Officer Kevin Russom. University of Washington PD Officer Tom James and Federal Law Enforcement Officer Shane Kempf (did not specify which agency he worked for) also testified in favor, and they were both former LCB personnel. Kempf and WDFW Chief Bjork, as well as others, made a lot of similar comments that "a law enforcement officer, is a law enforcement officer, no matter what uniform they wear." LCB Enforcement Chief Justin Nordhorn and the LCB Agency Director also testified in favor. The committee really seemed to be surprised at how little authority this agency has and the issues they face.
The impression I got is the state legislature is really looking hard at making these agencies general authority.
I think reps are starting to see how “old fashioned” WA is in terms of limited authority LE. Very few states actually limit their LE Park Rangers to just the park, WA is one of them. In many states if they are driving down the highway then can arrest you for DUI, in WA they couldn’t even stop you. In most states that have liquor sold in grocery stores the liquor control agency has full law enforcement powers, not so in WA. In fact one LCB person said 1183 told the LCB to be a public safety agency, it is time to give the LCB the tools to fulfill that. And in states with a DNR/State Forest Service, again they are full authority.
To watch the hearing go to this link:
http://www.tvw.org/index.php?option=com_tvwplayer&eventID=2013021179It does take several hours for video to appear on the site, however it does have audio right now.
The overall hearing starts at: 15:00
DNR starts at: 28:20
Parks: 48:00
LCB: 1:06:00
