Washington § 43.101.276 - Sexual and gender-based violence — Training curriculum requirements.

(1) Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, the commission shall develop two curricula for peace officer training as follows:

(a) Training for peace officers working on patrol on a victim-centered, trauma-informed approach to interacting with victims and responding to calls involving sexual violence; and

(b) Training for peace officers on a victim-centered, trauma-informed approach to interacting with victims and responding to calls involving gender-based violence.

(2) The curriculum for both subsection (1)(a) and (b) of this section must: Be designed for deployment and use within individual law enforcement agencies; include features allowing for it to be used in different environments, which may include multimedia or video components; and allow for law enforcement agencies to host it in small segments at different times over several days or weeks, including roll calls. The training must include components on available resources for victims including, but not limited to, material on and references to community-based victim advocates.

(3)(a) In developing the training for interacting with victims and responding to calls involving sexual violence, the commission shall seek advice from the Washington association of sheriffs and police chiefs, the Washington coalition of sexual assault programs, and experts on sexual assault and the neurobiology of trauma.

(b) All peace officers working on patrol shall complete the training under subsection (1)(a) of this section within one year of patrol assignment and at least once every three years thereafter.

(4)(a) In developing the training for interacting with victims and responding to calls involving gender-based violence, the commission shall seek advice from the Washington association of sheriffs and police chiefs and experts on gender-based violence and the neurobiology of trauma.

(b) All peace officers shall complete the training under subsection (1)(b) of this section at least once every three years.

(5) With the exception of the state parks and recreation commission, the training requirements under this section do not apply to limited authority Washington law enforcement agencies as defined in RCW 10.93.020 whose authority does not include the investigation of sexual assaults or gender-based violence.

Effective date—2025 c 125: See note following RCW 43.101.270.

Effective date—2023 c 197 s 4: "Section 4 of this act takes effect July 1, 2024." [ 2023 c 197 s 12.]