WA Sheriff calls police pursuit complaints meritless

Controversial Pursuit: Thurston County Sheriff defends his actions

Thurston County Sheriff Sanders faces criticism and a formal complaint for his aggressive tactics, with some arguing that his methods are too dangerous.

OLYMPIA, Wash. - Police pursuits conducted by the Thurston County Sheriff's Office have some questioning whether they are stopping crimes or causing more collateral damage.

Sheriff Derek Sanders responded to a recent complaint filed against him which claims his police pursuit tactics are dangerous.

The backstory:

Early Thursday morning, Thurston County Sheriff’s Deputies said they arrested five masked, and armed, gang members who were on their way to burglarize a pot shop.

Video shows Sheriff Derek Sanders deploying a spike strip. The suspects crashed their car and fled, but police used dogs to track them down.

"This is a good example of a really important capture. I would argue. No one really wants gang members with guns that have serial numbers scratched off driving around our county. That was only made possible by the fact that pursuits are now authorized in Washington State. I mean, the initial reason for the stop was reckless driving," Sanders told FOX 13 Seattle.

Sanders said investigators found a backpack which the suspects tried to hide. Inside the bag was a handgun and a short-barrel AR-15 with its serial number scratched off, according to Sanders.

However, not everyone is in support of Sander’s pursuit tactics.

On Facebook, Sanders addressed a complaint filed against him for his police chases.

FOX 13 Seattle obtained the actual complaint against the sheriff. Within the complaint, the anonymous submitter said "He (Sanders) regularly patrols the roads at night himself looking for potential pursuits."

Police pursuits in Washington State

What they're saying:

"It’s kind of this weird gray line where I think they're trying to play with this idea that it’s not law enforcement’s job to go out and catch criminals," said Sanders.

The Washington Coalition for Police Accountability said there are safer alternatives to chasing suspects.

"These pursuits are dangerous, and they kill innocent people," said WCPA committee member Shelly Washington, who represents the family of Kevin Peterson Jr, a Black man shot and killed by Clark County deputies in 2020.

Since the pursuit laws changed in Washington last summer, there have been several deadly crashes in connection to chases in Thurston County.

"When people are saying, ‘It’s your fault. You guys are killing people,’ I 100% could not disagree more. The people who are killing people in these car chases, in these DUI crashes, in these high-speed crashes, when there isn’t a cop behind them. They're sitting in jail right now facing pending murder charges," said Sanders.

The sheriff tells FOX 13 Seattle deputies have other resources they use when suspects flee to take them into custody.

Recently, the county invested tens of thousands of dollars in grappling devices to stop suspects in their tracks.

The Source: Information in this story comes from original reporting by FOX 13 Seattle reporter AJ Janavel, who spoke with Thurston County Sheriff Derek Sanders and WCPA committee member Shelly Washington.