Settlement with family of man killed by Olympia police will mandate de-escalation training

A settlement with the family of Tim Green, a 37-year-old Black man fatally shot by an Olympia law enforcement officer in August 2022, will require the city’s police to complete crisis intervention training within two years.

“We have been forever impacted by the death of a son, a brother, a father, an uncle. Tim did not deserve to die this way. And we do not want this to happen to anyone else,” Green’s family said in a statement.

The training officers will undergo is already required under Washington law due to a sweeping police reform ballot measure passed by the state’s voters in 2018. However, the state’s entire police force is not required to undergo training until 2028, the deadline set by state lawmakers.

As of July 2023, less than a third of the state’s law enforcement had undergone the 40 hours of mental health and deescalation training mandated for officers every three years or the 200 hours of training for new hires. According to the city of Olympia, “nearly all” of its officers have already completed the 40 hour course, except for the newest officers hired since April. Olympia Police Department has required this certification for more than 20 years, the city said in a statement.

https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2024/08/26/settlement-with-family-of-man-killed-by-olympia-police-will-mandate-de-escalation-training/