Elections and Crime in Seattle

September 10 | Posted by mrossol | Law, Policing, The Left

Source: Elections and Crime in Seattle – WSJ

Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell Photo: Steve Ringman/Associated Press

Voters in Seattle sent a message on crime last November by electing law and order candidates Bruce Harrell and Ann Davison as mayor and city attorney. They’re making some progress, despite the long shadow of a City Council that has twice cut police funding.

Eleven people were slain in Seattle in August, the most in a month in the 14 years recorded on the police crime dashboard. August’s victims include Rodney Peterman, 66, who was bludgeoned with a metal pole in broad daylight near Pike Place Market. Mercer Roy, a 31-year-old father, was gunned down while playing basketball at Cal Anderson Park.

The city is under a longstanding police-reform consent decree, and in August 2021 federal monitor Antonio Oftelie described “an unprecedented exodus of officers” amid a lack of political and financial support for the police. Cops have continued to quit, and this summer Mr. Harrell declared that the police staffing shortage had become a “crisis” that “harms public safety.” In July the city had only 950 officers, the fewest in three decades.

Last month Mr. Harrell persuaded the City Council to sign off on a recruitment and retention plan that includes hiring bonuses for new officers. The bigger test will be whether the council stops defunding the police in the next budget.

Jamie Housen, a spokesman for the mayor, declined to say what police funding numbers Mr. Harrell will seek because his proposal is still being finalized. “That said, the mayor ran on a pledge to fully fund police services in line with the public safety needs of the people of Seattle,” he said, adding that the budget will “support a thorough and holistic approach to public safety.”

Meanwhile, Ms. Davison is making progress against the misdemeanor crimes that degrade the quality of life and contribute to an atmosphere of lawlessness. (The Seattle city attorney handles misdemeanors while King County prosecutors deal with felonies.)

A recent report shows Ms. Davison is prosecuting more street crimes, including theft, trespassing, harassment and assault. In the second quarter of 2022, she declined to press charges in 37% of new misdemeanors that the Seattle Police Department has referred to her office. Her predecessor had declined 56% and 60% of police referrals for street crimes in the same period of 2019 and 2021, respectively.

Ms. Davison has also made progress in targeting Seattle’s worst repeat offenders. This spring her office discovered that fewer than 120 lawbreakers were responsible for more than 2,400 misdemeanor crimes in Seattle in the past five years.

Some two dozen categories of misdemeanor had been handled by Seattle’s Community Court, which releases the accused with a referral to support services and sometimes an assignment to attend life-skills classes or do community service. In May Ms. Davison persuaded the Municipal Court to sign off on reforms that exclude the worst recidivists from this leniency by default. Her office says some 45 of Seattle’s most prolific criminals are now in custody.

Mr. Harrell and Ms. Davison can’t fix Seattle alone. But credit both for addressing the culture of impunity that has fueled the lawlessness. If voters want more progress, they’ll have to clear out the City Council.

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