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Does Washington state go too far in protecting police who use deadly force?

caption: Andre Taylor's brother Che Taylor was shot and killed by police in 2016. Now he is working on an initiative that would change Washington's use of deadly force law.
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Andre Taylor's brother Che Taylor was shot and killed by police in 2016. Now he is working on an initiative that would change Washington's use of deadly force law.
KUOW Photo/ Megan Farmer

In February of 2016 Andre Taylor was in L.A. when he got a phone call from his stepmom in Seattle.

She told him his little brother Che Taylor had been shot by the police. Che Taylor was standing next to the open door of a car. The two officers said he was reaching for a gun when they fired.

Today, Andre Taylor is working with an organization called De-escalate Washington to change state law to make it easier to bring a police officer to trial.

Right now in order to prosecute an officer in Washington state you have to prove they acted with malice or in bad faith.

Andre Taylor says that law doesn't work. Lawmakers in Olympia tried to change the law in the last legislative session.

Rep. Dave Hayes sat on the Joint Legislative Task Force on the Use of Deadly Force in Community Policing. A sergeant with the Snohomish County Sheriff's office, he believes changing the law would be bad for the police and the community they serve.

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