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Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Crime The Letter

Posted by Jonah Spangenthal-Lee on Wed, Aug 12, 2009 at 10:31 AM

This is the letter which Seattle police hand-delivered to 19 alleged drug dealers in the Central District, offering them a chance to participate in the city's Drug Market Initiative program.

Dear __________

As Interim Chief of Police of the Seattle Police Department, I am writing to let you know that your activities have come to my attention. Specifically, I have proof that you are involved in selling drugs. You were confirmed as a street level drug dealer during an extensive undercover operation in and around 23rd Ave within the East Precinct.

I am inviting you to a meeting on August 6, 2009 at 6:00 PM, at Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center. You will not be arrested. This is not a trick. You may bring someone who is important to you, and I strongly suggest you ask a trusted friend or relative to come along. During the meeting, you will see the evidence I have of your involvement in drug sales, and you will be given the chance to stop dealing before my officers are forced to take action. This is not a trick in any way and I repeat that you are not going to be arrested for attending this meeting.

If you choose not to attend this meeting, the police and members of the community will be in contact with you. Street level drug sales must be stopped. Not only is it illegal, drug dealing leads to violence and contributes to other serious problems in our community. We are giving you one chance to hear our message before we are forced to take action against you, and I strongly encourage you to take advantage of the opportunity you are being offered.

Respectfully,

John Diaz

Interim Police Chief
Seattle Police Department

This is not a letter you ever want to receive.

One of the 19 alleged dealers has already been charged after, prosecutors say, he was busted with a crack pipe on August 7th. Prosecutors expect to file two additional cases today against two other dealers who have declined to participate in the DMI program.

Comments (25) RSS

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This is like a bizarro episode of The Wire.

Posted by laterite on August 12, 2009 at 10:41 AM

Prohibition always works.

Just ask Chicago.

Posted by Will in Seattle

on August 12, 2009 at 10:47 AM

Didn't Chief Wiggum do this on the Simpsons but offer a free yatch?

Posted by Cato the Younger Younger on August 12, 2009 at 10:48 AM

Hamsterdam!!!

Posted by Horrible Person on August 12, 2009 at 10:50 AM

has this ever been done before? This is kinda mindblowing and hilarious at the same time!

Posted by Andy_Squirrel on August 12, 2009 at 10:55 AM

@5 . . . done before: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/…

Posted by Otter on August 12, 2009 at 10:56 AM

I would expect that approximately zero drug dealers will attend the meeting with the cops, but maybe I'm just jaded.

Posted by Betsy Ross on August 12, 2009 at 10:57 AM

It ain't going to work and any half-witted capitalist could tell you why. Demand (huge by the way) + chance to make a whole lot of money = eternal drug marketing and sales on the streets.

Getting busted is just opportunity cost. And there's plenty more waiting to get into the game once this crop is behind bars.

Posted by Westside forever on August 12, 2009 at 11:00 AM

@7 Actually, 17 out of 19 attended.

Posted by germy on August 12, 2009 at 11:00 AM

The problem I have with this is it treats it like an intervention, like for a drug addiction. Many times this has nothing to do with addiction as much as the huge amount of money to be made. Going to jail has always been a threat so no amount of pressure from the police or family is going to change attitudes for some people since the reward is potentially so big. But maybe I am missing something and the idea is that once they get the letter they will be subject to twice the amount of penalties.
But on the other hand doing something is better than doing nothing at all even if we can just get a few dealers off the street.

Posted by Bill W.

on August 12, 2009 at 11:14 AM

@3, yes!

Homer: Up and away in my beautiful my beautiful motor boat! Da da da da!

Bart: But we didn't enter any police raffle.

Homer: That doesn't matter; the important thing is we won

Posted by jns on August 12, 2009 at 11:15 AM

Meanwhile, none of the 56,000 American billionaires and millionaires who avoided US taxes by setting up tax-free accounts in Switzerland with UBS are in jail.

Not.

One.

Hmmm. Priorities, huh?

Posted by Will in Seattle

on August 12, 2009 at 11:16 AM

I was expecting that high level dealers would have been nailed with these kinds of "you're a menace to society" tactics. Instead, what little I've seen so far seems to indicate it's a bunch of low-level street dealers, who may themselves be addicts trying to pay for their addiction. And I've seen no indication that any of these drug offenders are violent.

So here is some follow up that would be helpful: what kind of job training are these folks really being offered? What kind of services? Where are they located? How well funded are they? Is this a real alternative?

Posted by Trevor on August 12, 2009 at 11:19 AM

17 of 19 will attend and most of those 17 will get busted again.

Posted by Gomez

on August 12, 2009 at 11:33 AM

Trevor, you ask the questions that it would be really helpful if policymakers would ask. Many like to phrase this as a carrot and stick approach, but in fact it is virtually all stick with a barely digestible carrot tossed in. Unfortunately this model is all the rage right now with very little evidence to support its success (and none over the long-term).

Posted by gnossos on August 12, 2009 at 11:34 AM

Jonah,
I guess I commend Commissioner Diaz for the effort but it does seem bizarre. Consider a fellow with a history and/or evidence of assault, rape, robbery well fill in the blank. Are the police to send him a letter to tell him to "stop" assaulting, raping or robbing or else? It just seems surreal.

Posted by lark on August 12, 2009 at 11:47 AM

Is Will in Seattle retarded, or just willfully ignorant?

Posted by willisreed on August 12, 2009 at 12:39 PM

@15 some policymakers *are* asking these questions and have proposed answers too. Here is a similar program with significant differences, please take a minute to read about Clean Dreams:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/lo…

This approach instead uses peer outreach workers working with police to get people in the program AND it is resourced to help people get jobs, get their GED, pay 1st/last/security on an apt., drug and alcohol treatment etc according to a custom designed program. It doesnn't assume that all dealers are addicts, but strives to get to the reason for the dealing whether addiction or economics and provide different options.

There is still a hammer used and participants know that they can be arrested. The City Council funded the pilot program a couple years ago and next month will be receiving an evaluation of its effectiveness on the rates of recidivism.

Posted by LH on August 12, 2009 at 12:45 PM

Dear _______,
You are poor and male and black. Stop being poor and male and black or we will arrest you. Please stop using your only feasible source of income and, say, magically get a job at Microsoft.

Respectfully,
John Diaz
Interim Police Chief
Seattle Police Department

PS Hurry up!!!!! I have pot smokers and jaywalkers to bust.

Posted by Shorter John Diaz, SPD on August 12, 2009 at 12:56 PM

@8

Actually, street level dealers don't make shit for money. In the times article about this they made it clear this offer was only for street level dealers and not those higher up the chain, I suspect for exactly the reasons you mention.

Posted by vailripper on August 12, 2009 at 1:46 PM

@19. As a poor white female who has never dealt drugs I can only roll my eyes that drug dealing is a result of being a poor black male. It is the result of wanting to make money without working hard for it. Most drug dealers wouldn't work my job- it means having to wake up early, do all this "yes sir, no sir" bs, work hard for not too much money.
I know drug dealers make more than me cause I can barely afford bus fare and they are driving round town in fancy cars with tinted windows wearing shoes that cost more than every pair I own COMBINED. Don't add the poverty card to the race card. It's called greed.
Sorry, but I had a co worker (who yes, was a young black male) quit this office job for drug dealing. He liked the hours better, he liked the ambiance better, he did his business in night clubs at 1am instead of having to be at a boring office at 9am. Thought it was more exciting. Oh yeah, better pay too. But I'm supposed to see him as the victim cause he's black? bullshit. He made a choise based on his principles, or lack of.

Posted by hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm....... on August 12, 2009 at 1:58 PM

@20 is right. In fact it pays, for 90 percent of dealers, less than minimum wage.

Only the top one percent do fairly well, and the risk/reward ration is fairly bent onto the risk side.

But, it's seen as the only way out, because lets' face it, ain't nobody hiring a black man in America right now, unless he already went to college and got a degree, and most of them can't work for the feds due to crimes they committed (or were sentenced for).

yo, willis, walk a mile in my shoes, chile.

Posted by Will in Seattle

on August 12, 2009 at 2:01 PM

(ratio) != (ration)

Posted by Will in Seattle

on August 12, 2009 at 2:02 PM

Ya'll are crazy that think dealers aren't making any money. I can't offer much empirical data, but I know some really unaggressive sellers, some coke, some just weed, that make a killing considering the amount of effort they put into it.

They aren't playing the same game as kids on the corner, but it's hard to imagine dealing enough to be on police radar and not pulling anything in.

Posted by Dougsf on August 12, 2009 at 2:45 PM

@24: that's the point (and one of the few areas where David Kennedy -- guru behind the High Point model and its offspring is spot on). By and large, street dealers don't make squat. The ones that are rolling in the dough are the higher ups or house dealers working with recreational users. The ones the cops rarely ever bust.

Folks dealing $2.00 rocks are the absolute bottom of the food chain...and many, if not most, are out on the street hustling to support their own habits. And,of course these are the ones that get scooped up over and over again.

Posted by gnossos on August 12, 2009 at 3:05 PM