ORIGINAL REPORT, 3:05 PM: If you think some crime suspects get out of jail too quickly now – wait until next month, when, according to a story KING 5 broke last night, the county might not allow some of them to get booked into jail at all – they’ll be brought downtown, processed, and released. We just heard about this when Mayor Murray’s office sent a news release, saying he has sent County Executive Dow Constantine a letter objecting to it:
Mayor Ed Murray has serious concerns about a King County proposal to release additional felony suspects in property crime cases immediately after booking in downtown Seattle. The mayor outlined his concerns today in a letter to King County Executive Dow Constantine.
“This proposed plan presents an unacceptable public safety risk to the residents of Seattle and will undermine our mutual efforts to reduce drug and property crimes,” wrote Murray. “This proposal also has serious potential policing and budget implications for the City of Seattle.” (Full letter embedded below)
On Feb. 1, King County plans to reduce the inmate population by instituting a “book-and-release” policy for several felony drug and property offenses, including auto theft, hit and run (with injury), malicious mischief, reckless endangerment, stolen property, theft, vehicle prowl and drug possession.
The proposed plan will mean that suspects arrested for these crimes in communities around King County will be brought to Seattle to be booked and then released onto the streets of downtown.
Currently, judges individually assess each suspect booked at the jail to decide whether to hold them pending trial. The proposed County plan would eliminate a judge’s review in favor of a presumption of release for these non-violent offenses.
In his letter, Murray outlined alternatives to reduce burdens on the jail (reducing the time between a suspect’s arraignment and trial), as well as reduce impacts on the city (remote booking or mandatory return transportation for suspects brought downtown for booking from jurisdictions outside of Seattle).
We’ve asked both the county and city for a copy of the memo that Murray says police chiefs received this week, and we’ve asked the executive’s office for reaction to Murray’s letter. We’ll add whatever we hear back.
5:13 PM UPDATE: To answer journalists’ questions including ours, the executive’s office set up a conference call last hour, and your editor here was one of four who asked questions. The toplines:
*This is a done deal at this point – it was part of the county budget approved by the County Council and Executive.
*Rather than a budget cut, this was a budget request that didn’t get granted. The County’s director of adult/juvenile detention William Hayes, one of three county reps on the call, said it would cost $5.2 million to open another section of the jail to handle the increase in daily population expected over the next year if everything was status quo – last year’s average daily county jail/detention population (Seattle and Kent) was 1900, 50 over projections, and this year was expected to be 1920. There’s room at the jail – but not the personnel to staff it. That request was not granted. This policy is the result.
*The key talking point was that this would mean a difference of a few hours or few days in time most of these suspects would have spent in jail. It was also stressed that police will have the option to say, we don’t want this suspect released. In response to that, we pointed out that police might not get immediate access to the suspect’s full record, or warrant status. The county reps say that if technical problems keep them from finding out whether there’s a warrant out for someone, they won’t be released until the status can be verified.
*Overall, the county reps (also including Constantine spokesperson Chad Lewis and a budget-office staffer, Krista Camenzind) said a “chronic structural gap with the county’s general fund” is to blame. 70 percent of the general fund goes to criminal justice, from deputies to prosecutors to defenders to judges to jails, and it’s been going down even as the population grows, with a $54 million gap to cover this time around. We asked, couldn’t the civil system have been cut instead of the criminal? Reply: It already had been.
*We asked for a copy of the memo that the mayor mentioned, received this week by police chiefs around the county pointing out which crimes this generally would affect. The county reps say that was a draft memo and they don’t have a final version yet because suggestions were made by chiefs at a meeting yesterday and some of them are being incorporated into the final version.
Overall, Lewis summarized, the county considers this change the “best of bad options that are available.” Hayes said it’s not as if the suspects are being set entirely free – they will have to come in for court dates, and even if they fail to appear, “at some point (the legal system) is going to catch up to them.”
The cynical person might wonder if this is a setup for a forthcoming ballot measure to ask for more criminal-justice funding, we suggested. Lewis said no, there are no plans to seek any kind of a funding measure for public safety; Constantine is pursuing the Best Starts for Kids initiative, Lewis pointed out, an early-childhood initiative that he hopes will reduce the need for criminal justice, years down the road.
ADDED 6:12 PM: The mayor’s office has provided, at our request, the document mentioned in Murray’s letter, circulated to police chiefs earlier this week. Read on for the full text – including the proposed list of crimes; note that not all property crimes are involved – for example, residential-burglary suspects would still be held as they are now, this memo says:
King County Jail Population Management Plan (JPMP)
King County Police Chiefs Meeting
January 8, 2015Due to the ongoing deficit in its General Fund, King County will implement a plan to manage its
jail population starting February 1, 2015. The deficit stems from the deficiency in General Fund revenues, which increase an average of 2.5 percent annually, largely due to State law
restrictions on property tax growth. In contrast, expenditures grow an average of 3.5 percent
annually, consistent with inflation and population growth. The 2015/2016 biennial deficit was
$54 million in the General Fund and deficits of this magnitude are projected into the future
given the revenue shortfall.The County’s jail population reached a low point in 2012 and has been increasing steadily since.
Managing the projected increase in population would have required a $5.2 million addition in
staffing and related costs, which would have increased the deficit to $59.2 million and required
additional cuts in County criminal justice agencies. Rather than increase the budget for jail
housing and cut elsewhere, the County will seek to manage to an average daily population of
1,800, or what can safely be managed with existing staff. The average daily population is
projected to reach 1,917 in 2015 if left unchecked.The County will continue to book and hold all city and Department of Corrections inmates under existing contracts and will apply the Jail Population Management Plan (JPMP) exclusively to County-responsible pre-trial detainees – individuals accused of misdemeanors in the unincorporated area or arrested by Washington State Patrol, as well as individuals accused of
felonies.County Responsible Misdemeanors
Individuals booked on citations or warrants for Driving Under the Influence (DUI), certain
protection order violations, or who have a Domestic Violence flag will be held until they appear
before a judge or bail/bond out, if eligible. All inmates with a Domestic Violence flag will not be released until seen by a judge, in accord with existing court order. DUI and protection order statutes include: RCW 46.61.502 – DUI
RCW 46.64.503 – Driver under 21 Consuming Alcohol/Marijuana
RCW 46.61.504 – Physical Control
RCW 7.90 – Sexual Assault Protection Orders
RCW 10.14 – Anti-harassment Orders
RCW 74.34 – Vulnerable Adult Protection Orders
(King County Jail Population Management Plan DRAFT 2)
Inmates booked on their second warrant for a misdemeanor charge will be held and be eligible
for bail, bond or personal recognizance release as they are today.Inmates booked on their first misdemeanor warrant with a bail amount under $5,000 will be eligible for release under the JPMP. Jail Personal Recognizance (PR) Investigators will interview the inmate and determine if he or she is to be released under the JPMP. Anyone who cannot or will not sign the PR release form or whose behavior shows signs of serious mental illness or impairment will be held consistent with current procedures and policies for these individuals.
Felony Investigations
Anyone booked on a Superior Court warrant will be held and be eligible for bail as they are today. The JPMP only applies to felony investigation bookings on low-level, non-violent crimes.
The following investigation codes will be eligible for release under the JPMP:
2499 – Auto Theft/Stolen Vehicle
2699 – Fraud
3999 – Gambling
5401 – Hit & Run w/ Injury
5380 – Malicious Mischief
5003 – Perjury
1350 – Reckless Endangerment
2899 – Stolen Property
2389 – Theft
2305 – Vehicle Prowl
3599 – VUCSA
All other investigation bookings will be held as they are today.
Jail PR Investigators will interview the inmate and determine if he or she is to be released under the JPMP. Anyone who cannot or will not sign the PR release form or whose behavior shows
signs of serious mental illness or impairment will be held consistent with current procedures
and policies for these individuals.Override Mechanism
If the individual booked is eligible for release under the JPMP and law enforcement would like
to hold him or her, then the officer should request an override from the King County Jail. To
make this override, the arresting officer will complete the objection to release portion of the
superform indicating the reason why the person should be held AND obtain a supervisor’s(King County Jail Population Management Plan DRAFT 3)
signature. The County jail will hold the individual until he or she appears before a judge or
bails/bonds out, if eligible.What will not change
The Law Enforcement booking process will not change. Officers will continue to bring all
arrestees to the County’s jails where they will be booked, fingerprinted, checked for
outstanding warrants and interviewed by a PR Investigator. All people booked on city-responsible misdemeanors and Department of Corrections violations will be held under the terms of existing contracts.
City and County prosecutors will continue to file charges on cases provided by law
enforcement. The courts will continue to adjudicate filed cases.
Inmates booked on felony investigation or warrants for violent crimes, crimes against people, sex offenses, and crimes involving children will be booked and held as they are today. This category includes all Class A felonies, and many Class B and C felonies, such as residential burglary and arson.
Individuals booked on Domestic Violence and Driving Under the Influence (DUI) will be
booked and held as they are now, as will individuals with Domestic Violence flags. All individuals booked on Superior Court warrants will be held as they are now.
An individual who is not coherent enough to comply with the booking process will not be released until he or she has completed the process, which means people will not be released to the streets in an intoxicated or impaired condition.
Inmates whose behavior shows signs of serious mental illness will be held according to existing policies and procedures.
Note: The JPMP is subject to change based on feedback on this draft.
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