King County prosecutor’s office expands efforts to prevent school violence
Oct 1, 2025, 6:31 PM
The King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office convenes to discuss new strategies for school safety. (Photo: James Lynch, KIRO Newsradio)
(Photo: James Lynch, KIRO Newsradio)
The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office (KCPAO) is ramping up its efforts to prevent school violence and keep kids out of trouble.
Rather than just prosecuting juvenile crime after the fact, KCPAO is being more proactive with its Safer Schools Strategies. The program includes helping schools with threat assessments and increasing communications between schools, prosecutors, police, and parents.
“We’re availing these kids of services much earlier and really pushing community connections and community support at a much earlier stage than we as prosecutors have in the past,” King County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Diana Chen said.
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Prosecutors can also now seek Extreme Risk Protection Orders to intervene with high-risk students who may have access to firearms. They are civil in nature, rather than criminal, to keep kids out of the system.
“They are civil in nature, so there is no criminal history. The records are sealed. It’s really designed to reduce stigma to the young person and the family, and to keep them out of the justice system,” King County Prosecuting Attorney Leesa Manion explained.
The office also helps schools with threat assessments and notifies schools when a student has a pending, felony firearms case. In the first year of notifications, the 2024-2025 school year, 100 notifications were made to schools.
The goal is to be firm, but compassionate. While violent crimes cannot be ignored, prosecutors act with the knowledge that young teenage brains are not yet fully developed.
“We know when juveniles have access to firearms, when juveniles are carrying firearms, it’s a dangerous situation. We know they are impulsive. We know they are highly susceptible to peer pressure. We know the behavior, in and of itself, is dangerous, and if you’re carrying a firearm, you’re also more likely to become a victim of firearm violence. All of those trends are alarming,” Manion said.
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