No questions asked: Council proposes changing the criminal code to save money
The Seattle City Council has been outspoken on defunding the police but said virtually nothing about an unpublicized budget proposal that would gut the current public safety model.
At the end of last week’s budget session, Chair of the Public Safety Committee, Lisa Herbold said “on behalf of the Community” she proposed amending the Seattle criminal code to dismiss crimes of poverty. The reason? She theorized fewer prosecutions would lower spending on county jail services, resulting in savings for the City.
This unprecedented move would allow misdemeanor prosecutions to be dismissed if a person says they acted while suffering from symptoms of addiction or mental disorder or had committed the crime under duress to support themselves or their family.
At the end of Herbold’s brief presentation her colleagues had no comments or questions.
However, the DRA has plenty—starting with the lack of transparency and due process and wondering if anyone bothered to study the impacts on public safety?
Criminal justice reformer Scott Lindsay was the first to raise the alarm on Herbold’s stealth measure. He says in 2019 fewer than half of Seattle’s 12,000 misdemeanor arrests were brought to prosecution.
Meanwhile, the numbers supporting Herbold’s proposal estimate 60% of misdemeanor defendants suffer from substance use or mental disorders and 90% are considered indigent. If these numbers are correct, the legislation would indeed reduce the need for jail.
The question is, what system stands ready to take its place?
Seattle’s broken criminal justice system has been well documented. Frequent offenders move through a revolving door of incarceration and treatment programs only to land back on the street. The City lacks enough treatment and diversion facilities and the authority to make them mandatory alternatives.
Yet, the Council seems eager to tear down one system before building a better one. In their haste they didn’t even consult with other City stakeholders including the Seattle Police Department, City Attorney and even the Municipal Court that tries misdemeanor cases.
Our leaders are courting chaos by offering broad immunity for assaults, harassment and vandalism at the same time they’re calling to reduce the number of police on the streets.
Where is the common sense? Where is the accountability?
Confronted with the daily reality of drugs and crime downtown, many residents already feel like participants in a social experiment gone wrong. We expect and deserve better.
It’s time the Council takes a step back, listens to their constituents and focuses on safety over savings.
