City Attorney: More than a list of names needed to clean up Seattle streets

A shooting on a King County Metro Transit bus left Seattle residents questioning what’s being done about crime in the downtown core.

It’s not that no one noticed the number of people creating disruptions in Seattle’s busiest neighborhood before the shooting on the bus that left the driver injured and suspect, ultimately, dead. But the suspect had been known to police.

According to The Seattle Times, court records showed the shooter, 31-year-old Martin Duckworth, had a long history of drug abuse and mental-health issues. And that’s not unfamiliar to this part of the city. Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes said people that commit these minor infractions downtown are typically people who have a mental health issue or chemical dependency. “You can’t assume normal deterrents work,” he said.

From public urination, to sleeping on sidewalks in front of businesses, minor infractions that are not criminal offenses, but that are considered a “civil infraction” only warrant a citation.

When an offender fails to respond to a citation, only then does it become a crime.

With the bus shooting top of mind, Seattle police officers compiled a list of 28 names of people they wanted to arrest. The names were comprised of repeat offenders who had been cited for three or more civil infractions and had failed to respond to those citations. Seattle Police interim Chief Jeff Pugel forwarded them to Holmes.

He responded with a note.

“My letter, when you get past the headline, was to try and say, thank you for this notebook, but here is the problem – the work-up is not there,” Holmes told KIRO Radio’s Ross & Burbank Show.

Holmes said he’s working with police to make sure the work-up is there before someone is arrested for their failure to respond. Take for example, Mr. Morris.

According to Holmes, Mr. Morris was a notorious, intimidating character that hung out along Seattle’s waterfront. He and his dog, Moose, would panhandle. But too often, Moose would get in altercations with other dogs or anyone who spoke to his owner. Sometimes Mr. Morris would even obstruct traffic.

Holmes went down to the waterfront personally with a Seattle police sergeant to talk to Mr. Morris and they told him if he didn’t stop his behavior, he was going to be ticketed.

“The police did issue appropriate civil citations. Mr. Morris did fail to respond and we did issue the failure to respond warrant and we arrested him on that. We discovered that he was an unregistered sex offender in the process. He’s in jail, and he will be in jail for the next three to five years,” said Homes.

Holmes said the process leading to the arrest warrant is what led them to discover he was an unregistered sex offender. Without that process, a book of 28 names and list of civil citations, it might have been something that was overlooked.

And among those 28 names, Holmes said some were overlooked. One person on the list was already in prison in Monroe. He’d been there for a month and would be there for another year. Six others have outstanding warrants for criminal behavior.

“(The City Attorney’s Office) suggests that’s not something SPD has to wait for me to do,” said Homes. “They can go ahead and arrest (the offenders) right now.”

Dave Ross asked if it’s likely there are more Mr. Morrises out there?

“You bet,” said Homes. “It’s important that we all work together. This is the crazy political time. I’m ready to roll up my sleeves. I’m here for another four years and I’m absolutely going to see this through – not simply repeat platitudes. We can be human and effective with law enforcement. It’s time for progressives like me to follow through though, and do what I said was the ‘plumbing’ work.”