WA cops accused of misconduct evade 2021 decertification law

The briefing

An InvestigateWest analysis finds Washington police agencies have kept hiring officers accused of serious misconduct despite the 2021 decertification law, Senate Bill 5051. One officer repeatedly accused of misconduct became Soap Lake police chief and was later found by the state auditor to have pocketed $7,500 from reselling a city-acquired police vehicle, yet the Criminal Justice Training Commission declined to revoke his certification. The commission is working through a backlog of more than 1,500 cases and has declined to fine agencies that fail to report misconduct.