Court Opinion

ID: 9563825
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 18:47:48.420488+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:18:05.232883
License: Public Domain

Dore, J.
(dissenting) — The statute in question, RCW 46.61.024, makes attempting to elude a police vehicle, after being given a signal to stop by a police officer, a felony. The majority holds that this statute applies where an officer from a foreign jurisdiction, with no authority to either pursue or arrest a suspect in Washington, attempts to stop a motorist on Washington highways. Because neither common sense nor statutory construction supports this conclusion, I dissent.
The parties agree that the Idaho deputy sheriff possessed no authority to arrest the defendant in the state of Washington. The Uniform Act on Fresh Pursuit, RCW 10.89-.010-070, authorizes peace officers from foreign jurisdictions to make arrests within Washington only when they enter Washington in pursuit of a suspected felon. The Idaho peace officer had no reason to suspect that the defendant had committed a felony. Unlike Washington, eluding a police officer is not a felony in the State of Idaho.
Nonetheless, the majority finds a violation of RCW 46.61.024 based on the fact that the Idaho peace officer was operating a "police vehicle" in pursuit of the defendant in Washington, and on the policy of the statute to deter high speed police chases in our state.
*613Although it is arguable that a police vehicle from another jurisdiction is a police vehicle under the terms of RCW 46.61.024, it cannot be contended that the Idaho deputy sheriff is a police officer under the terms of the statute. A police officer is defined as "every officer authorized to direct or regulate traffic or to make arrests for violations of traffic regulations." RCW 46.04.391. A clearer legislative declaration could not be imagined; the Idaho deputy sheriff simply had no authority to perform these functions in Washington except pursuant to the Uniform Act on Fresh Pursuit.
The public policy of deterring high speed chases is also furthered by prohibiting officers of foreign jurisdictions from pursuing motorists into the state of Washington unless suspected of committing a felony. The Uniform Act on Fresh Pursuit is a declaration of the Legislature's public policy in this area. So long as the motorist is not a suspected felon, the foreign jurisdiction peace officer has no authority of pursuit across our borders and cannot function as a police officer in this state.2
I would hold that the defendant did not violate RCW 46.61.024 by failing to stop when given that command by an individual who lacked such authority in this jurisdiction. I am in sympathy with the majority's "do good" approach, but it cannot be legally justified.
I would affirm the trial court's dismissal of the information for failing to properly state a charge.
Goodloe, J., concurs with Dore, J.

 I also note with interest that nothing in the majority's reasoning would differentiate between foreign peace officers who pursue suspects into this state and foreign peace officers who simply decide, while in this state, to carry out unauthorized police business. I would hold that foreign peace officers are police officers for purposes of RCW 46.61.024 only when they are authorized to arrest persons in this state. As noted above, the only statute which might provide such authorization, the Uniform Act on Fresh Pursuit, only allows foreign peace officers to pursue fleeing felons into this state.