Bills spurred by murder-suicide moving forward - Seattle PI

...House Bill 2392 and its twin, Senate Bill 6161, would require law enforcement agencies to adopt a model statewide policy or an individual policy for responding to allegations of domestic violence by their employees... "It is definitely a pioneering effort. No other state has adopted statewide minimum standards"...

DOMESTIC ABUSE GETS ATTENTION OF LAWMAKERS LAW ENFORCERS' TRAINING, VICTIM PROTECTION AT ISSUE
Seattle Post-Intelligencer (WA)
Jennifer Lloyd
February 23, 2004
[Excerpts] Bills dealing with domestic violence - including measures spurred by the murder-suicide involving Tacoma police Chief David Brame - are moving through the Legislature. The Senate endorsed two bills focusing on domestic-violence issues, while the House passed seven bills. Two companion measures stemming from Brame's fatal shooting in April of his wife, Crystal, are top priorities. House Bill 2392 and its twin, Senate Bill 6161, would require law enforcement agencies to adopt a model statewide policy or an individual policy for responding to allegations of domestic violence by their employees. The Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs, along with representatives from law enforcement agencies and victims' rights organizations, would develop the model policy by Dec. 1. Agencies would have to adopt procedures by June 1, 2005, and train every employee on the domestic-violence protocol by June 30, 2006. The bills' sponsors, Rep. Pat Lantz, D-Gig Harbor, and Sen. Debbie Regala, D-Tacoma, represent districts at the epicenter of the Brame tragedy. "For me, there has been a degree of satisfaction that I took action and a positive step to make amends for what happened in the parking lot of my grocery store last April," said Lantz, a member of the state's Task Force on Officer-Involved Domestic Violence. "It is definitely a pioneering effort. No other state has adopted statewide minimum standards." On Thursday, the House Committee for Juvenile Justice and Family Law heard testimony on the Senate bill, a result of concern over the Brame incident. According to testimony Thursday, law enforcement agencies should have a clear policy for handling domestic-violence allegations against officers so that victims know what to expect during a police investigation. "In my case it was two whole months before they contacted me. That's a whole lot of time to wonder if they're investigating it, how they're investigating it, without talking to me," Heidi Collins testified. Her husband, an officer with an Eastside department, was charged last July with assaulting her. He returned to work in January after receiving a "stipulated order of continuance," not a guilty verdict, for a fourth-degree assault charge in King County District Court. He must undergo domestic-violence treatment. "This bill will eliminate a lot of the stress that comes from not knowing what is going to happen next, when or if anything is going to happen at all," Collins said... Both bills unanimously passed their houses of origin... [Full article here]