8 Can't Wait
Campaign Zero, a police-reform campaign released by the We The Protesters organization, has promoted eight policies that they believe can significantly reduce the instances of police officers using force in the United States. The Renton Police Department is committed to providing ethical and equitable law enforcement services to our citizens. Below is a comparison of our policies in relation to Campaign Zero’s recommendations. The text is verbatim from our policies, followed by our comments on how that policy is implemented in practice.
The subject of police use of force is a highly complex issue; however, our expectation on when and why our officers use force is not. Our officers are trained to only use force when it is necessary to stop a person’s dangerous or resistive actions. The level of force must be in balance with level of danger to the officer or others, the level of resistance of the subject, and the seriousness of the crime being investigated. We train our officers to consider all of the force options available to them and choose the one that will most effectively control the subject while minimizing injuries to everyone involved. Once the subject is sufficiently controlled, continuing to use force is no longer warranted.
The only factor that should drive our officers’ decision to use force is the offender’s actions or threats. If a subject is not demonstrating resistive or threatening behavior, our officers are trained in tactics intended to slow the pace of an escalating event, reduce tension between everyone involved, and open lines of effective communication. These de-escalation skills safely resolve the vast majority of our calls involving conflict without the need of force being used.
Data proves that together these eight policies can decrease police violence by 72%