Legislative District 22

We must work to defend the bold change in the policies Washington state has adopted to reduce police shootings and create a system where all people feel safe. I will continue to work to demilitarize police, implement effective and comprehensive implicit bias training, ensure civilian oversight, create a database for centralized collection and reporting of police shootings and killings, demand actual accountability for police brutality and murder, and fully support and work on the 2023 policy agenda described in the questions above.

Tangible ways to measure progress toward this goal is through the data collection I support above.

We cannot have true justice in our country until we correct and transform our broken systems of policing and criminal justice. I will listen first to the community members who have been most affected by these policies and systems for decades and who have been doing the work to demand reform on these issues and more. Together, we can act and inspire mass movement for change, and build a justice system that matches our ideals and embodies our values.

I would link to my full statement on criminal justice on my website.

There is much work to be done reforming our criminal justice system and addressing the deep racial and socioeconomic inequalities that influence how it functions – and the racist and classist outcomes it can create. We need to greatly reduce incarceration, especially for nonviolent, drug offenses; federally legalize marijuana, expunge past convictions, and make sure affected communities play a significant role in the new industry; eliminate the death penalty, and work with the communities and stakeholders most affected to ensure a better system.

I also know the level of police violence in this country is wrong, and disproportionately affects men of color at a rate that is wholly unacceptable. I not only voted for I‐940 in the legislature (and on the ballot), I dropped the first bill of the session on this topic in 2016 ‐ HB1000. This initiative will lead to significant reform in how we train our police and how they are held accountable in the event of police violence.

The final bill I helped pass in the legislature included reforms approved by both police and by activists – getting consensus on this issue is not impossible, it just takes real work. If I am elected to return to the legislature, I am confident I can work with activists, criminal justice reform experts, and local government to develop reform that actually addresses this issue and creates safer communities.