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800 Maynard Ave S, Suite 200, Seattle, WA 98134
800 Maynard Ave S, Suite 200, Seattle, WA 98134
Not only does this not solve the problem, it doesn't help at all. It makes it worse, actually. That's what people are saying.
By 'Defender' do you mean defendant? I never heard of a Defender Association unless you mean a group of nerds playing old video games.
I strike the last snark from the record. The other two still stand.
Mayor McGinn I will be attending a symphony at Benaroya Hall and these sweeps make me feel that much safer.
Clean up the gutters and get the drug addicts off the streets.
Kudos to SPD!
Leave it to Slog commenters to elucidate all of us on why it's bad.
Oh wait, that's legal!
Well at least there won't be as many random drive-bys where people throw dime bags at unsuspecting pedestrians.
If you think SPD is arresting dudes selling dimebags of weed, you should go hang out downtown more often. These are hardcore street drugs - dirty, life-trashing narcotics.
The critics are right of course, fixing the roots of the problem should be where the resources go. But what type of downtown do you want to walk through at night? One with dealers on the corners and people pissing in doorways, or one where you'd want your kids to play?
2. sporadic efforts on drugs do nothing.
3. oh wait, they keep it a black market ensuring super profits for drug lords.
4. oh wait, they help SPD get better public relations just when they need it most!
5. oh wait, they help mayor politically.
6. oh wait it helps when it's budget time for judges, prosecutors, police, and jail guards.
7. I change my mind, the low level drug bust is a government program that works EXACTLY AS INTENDED to help ensure a stream of money to drug lords and their symbiotic partners, the cops and politicians.
8. Think of it as a win in the market place of emotions, we get the emotion that we're doing something.
9. bonus -- the entire minority community that would rat out the shooter of james ferrari is further distrustful of the cops, scared to come forward, views them as just another gang, so voila! if the cops never solve the ferrari shooting we will never blame them instead we will silently blame those gang members and people of color but not say so as this is seattle and we are Nice.
10. I want a downtown where james ferrari wouldn't get shot, this results from legalization, the cost of drugs needs to be lower and we need to white market it all otherwise we will see more ferraris shot and dead, more cop exploitation of our fears, more question begging comments like the previous one (quick! think of ANY program that "works"!) that simply maintain the failed policies. It's worse off for the poor people in the drug ridden neighborhoods but being largely minorities we can't seem to find a way to really care about them. As ong as there are only 2 or 3 ferraris a year, we're okay with the drug trade/exploitation of minor drug players by cops for public relations points.
Sounds like that "You're not a cop are you? You've gotta tell me if you're a cop" rot.
The thing is, buy-bust operations like this do close to nothing. In some circumstances (like in the CD around Chocolate City/Deanos about 6 years ago) they can actually cause violent crime to INCREASE as suddenly the turf is in dispute while new dealer networks move in.
Thing is, the vast majority of people caught up in busts like these tend to be addicted users who are running in exchange for just enough to support their own habits. They often have prior convictions that are preventing them from finding other jobs, and make less than minimum wage slangin crack.
And to the trolls like SugarTit and @25 - if you think the dealers caught up in this sting are scum and beneath contempt you need to learn some compassion and forgiveness, and question some assumptions you've made about your and their place in society.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_policy…
Where basically, if you're arrested and have drugs on your person, you meet with a panel consisting of a social worker, an attorney, and a psychiatrist. They can recommend a variety of steps, including inducements to treatment and counseling on down to fines and more severe penalties.
Sorta like a bigger, badder version of the Clean Dreams project we had in Seattle for a short while, before the county cut funding for it:
http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/clean…