Today’s action comes from the Washington Coalition for Police Accountability.

This is a very specific Call to Action as we push to get 2SHB 1579 (the Independent Prosecutor bill) moved out of the Senate Ways and Means committee.

2SHB 1579 establishes an independent prosecutor office in cases of alleged police criminal misconduct. Prosecution of police misconduct should be removed from local prosecutors offices, which have a conflict of interest from working so closely with local police.

Send An Email in Support of 2SHB 1579

Today, we’re going to email our state Senators, along with the Ways & Means Chair Rolfes and Vice-Chair Robinson to let them know we support the Independent Prosecutor bill.

First, learn who your state Senator is, and what committees they are on:

1. Go here: https://app.leg.wa.gov/districtfinder/, type in your address, and click “Find My District”.

2. Click on the name of your state Senator under “State District XX Legislators”.

Second, send an email to [email protected], [email protected], and your state Senator.

Sample script:

Hi, my name is {NAME}, and I am a constituent of state Senator {SENATOR NAME}. I’m writing to ask you all to do everything you can to help get 2SHB 1579, the Independent Prosecutor bill, passed out of the Ways & Means committee and onto the Senate floor for a full vote. 

Prosecution of police misconduct should be removed from local prosecutors offices, which have a conflict of interest from working so closely with local police. Families and victims of police violence and social justice advocates across Washington recognize the current system is not fair or credible.

Background

“Establishing a mechanism for independent prosecutions within the office of the attorney general of criminal conduct arising from police use of force.” – https://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=1579&Year=2023&Initiative=false

“Washington Needs an Independent Prosecutor” – https://static1.squarespace.com/static/62e4b71788008e2f8c928a57/t/639d1a07133cbc798bff67ac/1671240199699/Independent+Prosecutor+one+pager+Final+12.6.22.pdf