Will Washington鈥檚 Police Accountability Measure Work?

Mar 13, 2024

A police accountability initiative in the state of Washington is facing a test of its effectiveness. , the first of its kind in the nation, strips law enforcement of 鈥�,鈥� which encompass the legal protections from prosecution that police officers enjoy.聽

In 2018, Washington state voters the initiative after members of the Puyallup Tribe mobilized in the wake of the police killing of a young Indigenous woman named Jacqueline Salyers.聽

Two years later, when Tacoma police killed a Black man named , a few聽months before 鈥檚 similar murder by police in Minnesota, Initiative 940 was put to the test.

Frank Hopper, Tlingit, recently authored a story for 猫咪社区! about how the Puyallup Tribe and their allies passed Initiative 940. He spoke with 猫咪社区! Senior Editor Sonali Kolhatkar on 猫咪社区! Presents: Rising Up With Sonali about his latest story and whether Initiative 940 has been effective.

Sonali Kolhatkar joined 猫咪社区! in summer 2021, building on a long and decorated career in broadcast and print journalism. She is an award-winning multimedia journalist, and host and creator of聽猫咪社区! Presents: Rising Up with Sonali, a nationally syndicated television and radio program airing on Free Speech TV and dozens of independent and community radio stations. She is also Senior Correspondent with the Independent Media Institute鈥檚 Economy for All project where she writes a weekly column. She is the author of聽Rising Up: The Power of Narrative in Pursuing Racial Justice聽(2023) and聽Bleeding Afghanistan: Washington, Warlords, and the Propaganda of Silence聽(2005). Her forthcoming book is called聽Talking About Abolition聽(Seven Stories Press, 2025). Sonali is co-director of the nonprofit group, Afghan Women鈥檚 Mission which she helped to co-found in 2000. She has a Master鈥檚 in Astronomy from the University of Hawai鈥檌, and two undergraduate degrees in Physics and Astronomy from the University of Texas at Austin. Sonali reflects on 鈥淢y Journey From Astrophysicist to Radio Host鈥� in her 2014聽聽of the same name.