Pot Arrests
The panel of drug-policy leaders tasked with evaluating the effects
of I-75, the 2003 initiative making possession of marijuana the lowest
law-enforcement priority for Seattle police, issued its final report
this week.
The good news: Marijuana arrests dropped by 40 percent, and
resources (an estimated $70,000 after the first year according to the
report) were transferred to fighting more serious crimes.
The annoying news: Arrests of white males for pot went from 75 to 50
between 2003 and now. Arrests of black males went from 94 to 76. So,
arrests of white males, fewer to begin with, dropped more
dramatically, 33 percent, while arrests of black males dropped
about 19 percent. JOSH FEIT
No Arrests
In the first week of 2008, Seattle police are already investigating
two high-profile murders. Just after 7:00 p.m. on New Year’s Eve,
Shannon Harps—a campaign organizer for the Sierra
Club—was stabbed in the entryway of her Capitol Hill condo.
Neighbors heard Harps’s screams and rushed to her aid, but she died at
Harborview later that night.
SPD has released a sketch of a “person of interest” in the case,
which matches the description—six feet tall, 40s or 50s,
beard— of a man seen fleeing the scene. But police still have no
suspects in the case.
Four days after Harps’s murder, 17-year-old Allen Joplin was
shot and killed at a “back to school” party held at Studio One-Sixteen
on the 100 block of Elliott Avenue West. Joplin, a former Cleveland
High School student, was at Studio One-Sixteen with his girlfriend when
two unidentified men crashed the party. Joplin exchanged words with the
men and was shot. Seattle police homicide and gang units are
investigating and, again, have not identified any suspects. JONAH
SPANGENTHAL-LEE
Lead Tests
Seattle Housing Authority director Tom Tierney responded to reports
of faulty hot-water systems and possible lead contamination in
heating water at the NewHolly development last week [“Lead Pipe,” Erica
C. Barnett, Jan 3], sending a letter assuring all NewHolly residents
that their water “does not contain high levels of lead,
and is well within acceptable standards.”
However, Tierney was not able to explain to homeowners and renters
why the NewHolly homeowners association was not given the report that
initially disclosed elevated lead levels in one of SHA’s rental units
at NewHolly when it requested it more than a year ago. “I want to
assure you that we did not intentionally withhold” the report,
which also revealed that hot-water pipes were leaking into
NewHolly’s walls and causing water damage, Tierney’s letter
says.
SHA spokeswoman Virginia Felton adds, “we were operating under the
assumption that [residents] had [the letter].” Although SHA believes
the water is safe, the agency will hire a contractor to retest the
water
at NewHolly, because “there’s a lot of concern about this
among our residents.” ERICA C. BARNETT
