Criminals who pretend they have a weapon to police could end up in jail for an additional year under legislation sponsored by Sen. Tracey J. Eide, D-Federal Way.

Eide says her legislation came at the request of local cops who say that more than ever, suspects are implying they have weapons as they flee from capture. Senate Bill 5413 had a public hearing on Tuesday in Olympia.

“If there’s an idea out there that threatening a police officer with a fake gun or a finger pointed under a shirt isn’t going to amount to a serious crime, then that idea needs to be changed,” Eide says. “As far as I’m concerned, criminals who are doing this are darn lucky they don’t get shot by police who have every reason to fear for their lives.”

Eide says she didn’t hesitate to craft the legislation after Federal Way Chief Brian Wilson told her of a situation where a man was nearly shot after a foot chase. The suspect allegedly pulled a toy gun in an attempt to discourage the officer from pursuing him.

It didn’t work, Wilson says, and the man almost wound up at the receiving end of the officer’s pistol.

Eide says there were no options to charge the man with assault on a police officer because there wasn’t actually a weapon.

“In this day and age, we need to give our police officers tools that help them protect our communities,” she says. “People who have the dumb idea to threaten an officer with a weapon, real or not, need to go to jail and be held accountable.”