A police accountability initiative in the state of Washington is facing a test of its effectiveness. Initiative 940, the first of its kind in the nation, strips law enforcement of “qualified immunity,” which encompass the legal protections from prosecution that police officers enjoy.
In 2018, Washington state voters passed the initiative after members of the Puyallup Tribe mobilized in the wake of the police killing of a young Indigenous woman named Jacqueline Salyers.
Two years later, when Tacoma police killed a Black man named Manuel Ellis, a few months before George Floyd’s similar murder by police in Minnesota, Initiative 940 was put to the test.
Frank Hopper, Tlingit, recently authored a story for YES! about how the Puyallup Tribe and their allies passed Initiative 940. He spoke with YES! Senior Editor Sonali Kolhatkar on YES! Presents: Rising Up With Sonali about his latest story and whether Initiative 940 has been effective.