‘The power of a rumor’: Katie Wilson clarifies there is no policy change on drug arrests

Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson faced backlash for an alleged directive from her administration to not arrest people for drug possession or public drug use, and instead divert them to treatment.

Wilson clarified, on “The John Curley Show” on KIRO Newsradio, that there has been no policy change regarding the arrest of drug users.

‘This whole episode has taught me even more than I already learned during the campaign about the power of a rumor. So I have heard some wild things about what I have said or what I believe. And this is another example where I woke up this morning to the news that apparently my office had issued a new directive, and we definitely did no such thing,” she said. “So I think the lesson for people listening or watching is — think twice before you believe what you see, what you hear. There’s been no policy change.”

Seattle Red reported that in an internal email sent last week, Seattle Police Chief Shon Barnes announced all charges related to drug possession or drug use would be diverted from prosecution to the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) program.

“Effective immediately, all charges related to drug possession and/or drug use will be diverted from prosecution to the LEAD program,” the email stated, according to Seattle Red.

Wilson did acknowledge that the email from Barnes appeared to be misinterpreted, but she reiterated that the policy, which allows officers to use their discretion on when it’s appropriate to arrest someone, remains in place.

“We have award-winning diversion programs, and those can be invoked before an arrest, before a booking, before a trial. And really, the bottom line comes down to we’re looking for an approach, which is using the right strategy in the right circumstances, and that is making sure that we are getting people the help that they need,” Wilson said.

“There’s just a lot of different situations out there, and there’s no one-size-fits-all approach. So that’s what we’re trying to get to. But we have not made any change in policy. We have not discussed any change in policy. And that’s where things are at,” she continued.

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

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