City Attorney Ann Davison has announced a new “High Utilizer” initiative she says will “identify individuals responsible for repeat criminal activity across the City of Seattle and aims to dramatically reduce their public safety impacts.”
“Through our High Utilizer Initiative, we will directly address the individuals who create a disproportionate impact on public safety in Seattle,” Davison said in the announcement. “I will coordinate closely with the Seattle Police Department, the King County Prosecutor’s Office, and the King County Jail to disrupt the cycle of crime for these individuals.”
The initiative will launch with 118 individuals “who have been responsible for over 2,400 criminal cases over the past five years,” Davison’s office says.
Each of these individuals has twelve or more referrals from the Seattle Police Department (SPD) to the City Attorney’s Office in the past 5 years and at least one case referred in the past 8 months. Most of the charges in cases referred to the City Attorney’s Office involving High Utilizers were theft (1,019 charges), trespassing (589 charges), assault (409 charges), or weapons violations (101 charges). (Some cases involve multiple charges).
Because people with a high number of domestic violence or DUI cases are already the subject of additional attention, Davison said, they will not be included this effort.
The initiative is the latest in Davison’s efforts to overhaul the City Attorney’s office and comes as Mayor Bruce Harrell has pledged a crackdown on Seattle crime in a mix of “hot spot” policing, more arrests, and more efforts to address core problems of poverty, addiction, and mental illness.
In February, Davison announced a new “Close in Time” plan to prosecute more of those who are arrested in a faster process and dig her office out from a pandemic-bogged backlog of misdemeanor cases.
CHS reported here on Davison’s first moves to reshape the office after her elimination of Pete Holmes in the primary as he sought his fourth term and defeat of police abolitionist Nicole Thomas-Kennedy in November powered by a “soft on crime” backlash in the city and concerns about street disorder.
Davison has also made changes to how her office handles its role providing legal advice on new legislation and policies and defending the city against legal threats after firing Jessica Nadelman, the attorney who held the job under Holmes. Davison last week announced her office has hired Tom Kuffel from the King County Prosecutor’s office to be the new chief of the Civil Division.
As part of the announcement of the new “High Utilizers” initiative, Davison said the list will be a work in progress and change with people removed and added to the roster in a coordination effort with Seattle Police and “key stakeholders” including the King County Prosecutor’s Office, King County Jail, and service providers.
Davison said her office will “prioritize” cases involving people on the list “and continue to advocate for both accountability and behavioral health and substance use interventions to help stop the cycle of addiction, crime, and human suffering we are seeing on our streets.”
UPDATE 3/16/2022: King County Public Defense has weighed in on the initiative.
“This tired strategy of arresting, prosecuting, and jailing is expensive and clearly ineffective. A night in jail, according to the Seattle City Budget Office, costs more than $200. For one person for one month, that’s at least $6000,” the statement made via the department’s social media read.
The public defense department statement said the region’s homelessness emergency and equity crisis need to be addressed to achieve a “path to safety.”
“We’re disappointed that once again the system is working to perpetuate itself, not working to help solve real problems affecting people in dire need,” the statement concludes.
(Thread) Over the last several years, the City of Seattle has repeatedly announced initiatives that would focus more law enforcement resources on those already most policed as a strategy for addressing public safety, all with similar names. 1/4
— King County Public Defense (@KCPublicDefense) March 15, 2022
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118 defendants with 2400 cases!?! WTF Pete Holmes? Thank god Davison beat NTK and Harrell beat Gonzales. This is why there is a backlash against leftist policies on crime, policing and homelessness. If not for this stupidity and ideological blindness, the Democrats would have won a solid majority in Congress and been able to pass Build Back Better and the Green New Deal. Next up, we need to replace Satterberg with Ferrell and vote out Sawant, Lewis, Morales, Herbold, and Straus in November. This could be a world-class, livable city if we can get rid of the extremists that created this crisis.
“World class livable city” is a dog whistle for gated community for good citizens to watch their single family home appreciate in value. No poors allowed. A renter majority city should and will elect representatives who defender renter’s interests. WFH will destroy this NIMBY politics. Why pay so much and fight so hard to fight the left for your shitty little townhome with its rainy rooftop deck?
https://yourlogicalfallacyis.com/strawman
Where do you want to erect the gallows? Lol “Next up we need to change everything about this city to fit my narrow view of the world”. Everyone get back to work!
You should talk lol
This lifelong Democrat agrees with you. Have not seen downtown ever look so scummy either. It’s sad; I now tell visitors to avoid downtown.
I think Sawant may be voted out; she got fewer votes in her re-election, and fewer votes again for beating the recall. But that’s just one step. We need a big overhaul in how the city is run. Clearly others feel so, hence Harrell’s and Davison’s wins.
Spot on!!!
I often wonder who’s telling you what opinions to have … just for a second, and then … meh.
Apparently you’re a conservative D (R light). Not to put too fine a point on it but, I wonder If you’re aware that statistically police presence makes little difference in the overall crime rate? If you really want to make a difference, do the research and suggest well-informed constructive changes. Revenge, fear and thuggery don’t cut it.
I am liberal that has never voted for a Republican other than Davison. The local neoprogressive/Sawantist/anarchist movement has deluded themselves that anyone that disagrees with your absurd magical thinking and the overwhelming evidence that your approach to homelessness, drugs and criminal justice reform has been a catastrophic failure for everyone including the people you say you are trying to help is right wing. Sorry to pop your idealogical bubble with some reality.
The Sawant dog whistle: yell “right-wing racist conservative” when someone doesn’t follow the Northwest neo-liberal party line. I have a feeling we’ll soon be back to the liberal-lefty Seattle we love, with crazies like Sawant and her cronies in the rear-view mirror.
You come off as a ragey crackpot, but for my part, as 20-year resident of downtown Seattle and fangirl of the I-District, I’m happy to see these changes. I’ve felt extremely safe in both areas until the last 3 -4 years. The problems predate COVID, but became vastly worse since COVID. High time to start inching the pendulum back, and high-volume repeaters are a good target (sounds like gang activity to me).
Lol so you mean if you are constantly lenient on criminals and allow them the chance they will indeed become rererererererepeat offenders? Wow. Who would have thought….
The way this gets framed as “you just hate poor people” or “high rents!”
is ridiculous and maddening. It’s also an insult to peoples basic intelligence. Any average citizen would suggest you lock these criminals up for a while after, oh I don’t know, a handful of arrests in a year. That’s being conservative obviously – these a-holes commit that many crimes in a month, likely.
While I have a big problem with “for profit” and systemically racist prison system, I have a bigger problem with systemic offenders who cannot live in a society.
This is the right first step – but work needs to be done so that we rehabilitate, not punish; and have the right social services (universal healthcare, mental health and addiction services) to everyone who needs them, universally.
Great step though – striving for low crime in urban areas, so that “suburbia” isn’t the only “safe” places MUST be the goal.
What’s left out of this discussion is whether Dow Constantine and the King County Council will lift their 2+ year ban on booking most misdemeanors.
This is welcome news. You go, girl!!
Why don’t we keep burping these smash and run so they can keep stealing from who ever they WANT TO no REPERCUSSIONS for anyone so they know what they can get by with, why do people blame our police they can’t do ANYTHING anymore as it was taken away from them.so I guess we as tax payers are on our own as far as calling for help. Then when the criminal’s break the law our Counselor’s and Judges let them out so they can do more crime. I am not proud of Seattle anymore and I will discourage anyone to not come hear as it is NOT safe.
Sorry, but can you point out to where “we as taxpayers” prevented the police from doing their job? Blame staffing issues, blame prioritization of calls, but don’t try to claim that the police aren’t allow to “do anything anymore”.
It makes it seem like you get your opinions from the angry, yelling man on the TV/radio.