This is clearly another reason why the State of WA needs a Police & Fire Commission to be responsible for investigating and deciding discipline for police and firefighters; however, as long as the Police and Sheriff's have lobbyists it will never happen. I know officers who have been fired for getting their police cars stuck in the mud, used as a political scapegoat, and clearly for retaliatory reasons.
This article doesn't address the safety mechanisms that are in place within police departments and terminate pursuits like this, such as the on duty supervisor. Why is there no mention of this, I imagine because the person who wrote the article and investigated it has no background in police policies, which would help the article. The article doesn't address who conducted the internal investigation, which under know circumstances should have been the City of Bothell the presumably named defendant in the future wrongful death suit.
This case is pure sadness and unfortunately doesn't have any racial overtones or trending issue. As an officer, I always felt each jurisdiction should have the right and ability to terminate any pursuit within their jurisdiction regardless of the actual police agency conducting the pursuit. I, of course was laughed at when I proposed this to a mayor and command staff, because that makes no sense at all and it came from me and not a "golden" employee being groomed for promotion.
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