The last legislative session in Olympia passed a package of “police reform” measures, supposedly designed to “undo racial inequity” in policing in the state.  The effects of this reform package can be easily predicted.  The article at KOMO today lists some of the changes to law-enforcement in the State of Washington.

The laws constitute what is likely the nation’s most ambitious police reform legislation. Supporters said they would help undo racial inequity in the justice system — “a mandate from the people to stop cops from violating our rights and killing people,” said Sakara Remmu, of the Washington Black Lives Matter Alliance.

Below, I have listed the changes, and some possible effects of those changes.

• Banned chokeholds…one fewer way for a policeman to subdue a violent suspect, possibly putting the officer’s life in danger
• Banned neck restraints…same as above
• Banned no-knock warrants…giving criminals time to destroy evidence or escape out the back door
• Requires officers to intervene when they see a fellow officer using excessive force…making officers rat each other out, since “excessive force” is subjective
• Required officers to report misconduct by other officers…who will now be looking over their shoulder to see who is watching them at all times.  This destroys camaraderie among officers.
• Made it easier to decertify officers…destructive of police morale
• Creates a new state agency to investigate police use of excessive force…more government spending, again “excessive force” is subjective and can change with the circumstances.
• Restrict when officers can engage in car chases…allowing criminals to escape
• Make it easier to sue individual officers…destructive of police morale, making them doubt themselves and fail to respond to emergent situations for fear of being sued.
• Require police officers to exhaust “de-escalation” measures…which are NOT defined, change with circumstances, and cause police officers to hesitate before responding to emerging violent situations.

If you were a law-enforcement officer, would you wish to work under these onerous restrictions?  This so-called police reform makes it extremely difficult for any law-enforcement officer to do his or her daily job.  It puts the onus on police to defend their actions, and essentially puts the criminals in charge.  Anyone wishing to break the law will know that from here on, the police are hobbled by their SJW overseers, and the criminals will be able to do what they wish with impunity.  All a criminal will need to do is yell “excessive force”!!!, and they know that the officer will back off and let them get away, since the criminal knows that the officer is not permitted to give chase.

It is an objective fact that more black people than white people commit crimes.  More murders are committed by blacks than whites.  More gangs and drug dealers are black than white, and none of these facts has been taken into account in these “police reform” policies.  We are all aware that Black Lives Matter and other organizations like them assume that all disparities in criminal justice are the result of “discrimination” by whites against blacks, and that society is “systemically racist”.  We all know that those views are wrong.  Dead wrong.

The “police reform” measures approved by Black Lives Matter will manifestly NOT improve the lives of black people, and will actually make life more difficult for everyone who lives in a “low-income” part of town.  Those poor people will have a greater chance of being murdered in the streets, robbed, raped, carjacked, or have their homes burglarized, once the police are so cowed they stay out of those neighborhoods.  Police who believe that their own lives are endangered will be more likely to avoid situations where their actions could be misinterpreted, thus leaving crime-ridden neighborhoods and cities at the mercy of criminals.

And the “legislators” in Olympia will go on blithely believing that their actions are improving the situation in cities.  Well, they might just get an unpleasant surprise, as police officers resign in droves, like they are already doing in many places in Washington, especially cities like Seattle which have reduced police budgets.  Lack of law-enforcement resources, and fearful officers, cannot adequately protect the public from the ravages of violent crime.  And those legislators might just find their own ritzy neighborhoods are less safe from those criminals.

No Law Enforcement Leads to No Law.