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Renton Police next to Lake Washington Blvd; Renton Police Photo
I was recently asked whether Renton already had a vehicle pursuit policy before the state implemented the 2021 Pursuit law. The answer is an emphatic YES! I realized others may have the same question so I’m providing some background and the policy here.
Renton has had a very well-designed and validated police pursuit policy in place for many decades. We discussed the policy as a Renton Council occasionally, sometimes routinely, and sometimes in the context of insurance claims when property was damaged or in the rare cases where someone was injured by a police pursuit. (If my memory serves, we had one or two police pursuit bystander injuries serious enough to require focussed council discussion in the 28 years I was on council, and we had occasional property damage.) While the legal issues can be complicated when a reckless suspect hits a bystander with police in pursuit, our council generally considered it a city responsibility to help innocent injured parties if they got caught in the middle of a police chase, or if their property was damaged.
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