February 25, 2021
After 41 years in law enforcement, starting as a patrol officer and including a stint as King County Sheriff, Sue Rahr is stepping down as executive director of the Criminal Justice Training Commission, which trains local police in Washington.
Rahr discusses her tenure at the CJTC, during which she refocused training for officers from the “warrior” model to a “guardian of democracy” ethic, and emphasized de-escalation training she thought would better enable officers to defuse dangerous situations before they become violent.
Rahr also talks about Initiative 941 and the new rules put in place for how agencies investigate deadly force incidents. She said some agencies have struggled to put in place the new protocols due to short timelines, but says police are serious about the changes, and expects the public to see improvements in the next few years. She’s skeptical of the costs and time needed to create a new state agency to perform these investigations, as some legislators are proposing.
Plus, we go in-depth with first-term Democratic State Rep. Jamila Taylor of Federal Way, who was elected by her peers to chair the nine-member Black Members Caucus in the State Legislature.
An attorney by trade, Taylor’s priorities as a beginning legislator include putting a racial equity lens on state policy, and addressing housing and homelessness both during and after COVID.
Taylor discusses what prompted her to run for a seat at the State Capitol, what it’s like to run for office, and her initial impressions of the Legislature, especially during a session that is largely virtual.