Rantz: King County deputy slams plan to use tax dollars to release criminals from jail
Mar 26, 2019, 6:12 AM | Updated: 10:04 am
Many crimes go without punishment in King County, thanks to an uninterested government that pretends jail time doesn’t change behavior. Now, in the seemingly rare instances prosecutors move forward, the county will use tax dollars to let the criminals avoid pretrial jail time.
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“It’s frustrating enough that King County is legalizing criminal behavior, such as not charging people for drug possession,” a King County Sheriff’s deputy tells the Jason Rantz Show on KTTH. “But now King County wants to take it even further and start posting bail for people. The only people that suffer are law abiding citizens.”
Under the plan, low-income residents accused of a crime would have tax dollars used to pay their bail. KIRO 7 TV reports King County — through the King County Department of Community and Health Services — may spend up to $400,000 for the plan between June 1 and December 31, 2020.
“In an effort to advance its commitment to equity, social justice, and support the public well-being, King County will be appropriating funds to an organization that remits payment of pretrial bail, with a specific emphasis on indigent individuals,” the request for proposal states. “Successful applicants will provide bail for indigent individuals who would otherwise spend their pretrial time in jail, causing undue burden and costs for King County and the individuals.”
It’s odd they want to let accused criminals out of jail, while also claiming to support the well being of the general public. Reports in the last two weeks highlighted Seattle’s prolific offenders list as well as a man who tried to throw a woman off of a freeway overpass — it was his fourth arrest since September 2018.
King County deputies not happy
One deputy I spoke to was frustrated.
“There’s just no accountability anymore,” the deputy explained. “When we can’t keep criminals locked up what’s the disincentive to commit crime?”
Under King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg, criminals with personal possession amounts of drugs won’t be charged. Talk to cops and they’ll tell you drug dealers have quickly adapted. They won’t hold too much product on them at any given time, keeping them clear of jail, while still being able to sell drugs ravaging our community. At the time Satterberg’s new direction was announced, cops slammed the plan as “ludicrous.”
“Essentially, all drugs are now legal in small amounts,” one deputy told me.
A (bad) social justice argument
To understand why officials won’t make arrests — or in this case, help accused criminals get out of jail to commit more crimes — just focus on the Progressive buzzwords they use. They argue this is about social justice and equity. These are terms that mean little; they’re used as identifiers to the public that these leaders are woke.
They view low-income individuals as victims of an unjust society, thanks, in part, to systematic racism or sexism or some other ism.
They’re not responsible for their own behavior. Society made them break into a car to steal, then sell what they stole in order to buy drugs and feed their habits. And since society is to blame, these leaders will go easy on them until they can fix some imaginary injustice they’re blaming.
Last year, I followed the story of a violent, homeless man with a long criminal record. He was on the loose after allegedly stealing a safe from an apartment complex in South Lake Union, nearly $2,500 worth of goods from a local clothing shop, and a woman’s bike and bank card. He had previously been investigated for stabbing a man. Because the county doesn’t take these types of crimes seriously, he was released to outpatient treatment. Then he skipped out on his next hearing. A bench warrant was issued for his arrest.
There is a sad irony with this new plan. The criminal — as he awaits a trial date that he will likely skip — will break into the car or home of a taxpayer whose funds were unjustly used to bail him out. Because social justice.
Listen to the Jason Rantz Show weekday afternoons from 3-6 p.m. on KTTH 770 AM (or HD Radio 97.3 FM HD-Channel 3). Subscribe to the podcast here.
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