Gooood morning. I know you all probably already know this, but yesterday was chilly. Today should be a little better with a high of 69. (Nice.)
City council votes on expanding police surveillance: The Seattle City Council plans to vote today on expanding the Seattle Police Department’s Automatic License Plate Reader tool to all 300 of its patrol vehicles. The technology allows SPD to essentially create a database of where everyone parks and drives their cars in the city and retain that data for 90 days. I wrote about this back in December, and the proposed program hasn’t improved much since then, though some council members may be planning to propose some walk-on amendments today.
Speaking of today’s city council meeting: Three city council members plan to skip the full council meeting today. These absences led City Council President Sara Nelson to delay the vote on repealing the gig worker minimum wage ordinance. Nelson also said yesterday at the council briefing that she plans to be absent from the next full council meeting. Nobody wants to work anymore.
I’m at the point where I *think* this council will eventually take a vote on this, but am not fully convinced
— David Kroman (@KromanDavid) June 17, 2024
Former SPD Chief of Police Adrian Diaz pleads gay: On Monday, Diaz came out on The Jason Rantz Show and said he never had any sexual interest in the woman who accused him of sexual harassment. He also used his sexuality as a defense against accusations that he’d slept with his former chief of staff, rumors that another SPD employee admitted to inventing. Diaz gave this interview as he attempts to secure a job as chief of police in Austin, Texas. In case anyone needed any reminders, gay men can indeed still be misogynists and commit sexual misconduct against women.
King County youth jail audit reveals “grim conditions“: CascadePBS dove into an audit of the King County Patricia H. Clark Children & Family Justice Center, where the county incarcerates children. The audit showed that staffing shortages have reduced the level of services offered to youth, leaving them in their cells for extended periods of time, unable to access mental health support or substance abuse treatment, and without visitors. Funding to bring in more programming for the kids remains constrained due to King County’s budget deficit.
Woodland Park Zoo orangutan is pregnant: Female orangutan Batu and male orangutan Godek are expecting a baby due in August or September, according to the Woodland Park Zoo. The last orangutan born at the Woodland Park Zoo was Heran, a 35-year-old male who still lives there.
Judge strips SPD cop of gun: A Pierce County judge granted a protection order against an SPD officer after his ex-girlfriend accused him of threatening to kill her and himself. The protective order required the SPD officer to surrender his weapons, according to DivestSPD. SPD placed Officer Justin Fermaint on administrative leave in September after the woman filed the petition against him, and the Office of Police Accountability has launched an investigation into him. To circle back to automatic license plate reader stuff, this is why SPD shouldn’t have data on where people drive their cars.
President Biden announces new path to citizenship for some: Certain undocumented spouses and children of US citizens may have a path to citizenship under a new proposal from Biden, according to the Associated Press. In coming months, the executive action from Biden may allow more than half a million immigrants to apply for permanent residency and citizenship. The Associated Press points out that Biden announced the new policy as he simultaneously mounts an aggressive crackdown on the US southern border.
Justin Timberlake arrested for DWI in the Hamptons: The former NSYNC member remained in police custody Tuesday morning, according to People. He had it coming, to be honest. Me quietly repeating this tweet to myself as I semi-enjoy this news:
felony criminalization is still oppressive even when it affects your political enemies
— jon ben-menachem (@jbenmenachem) May 30, 2024
Secret service agent robbed at gunpoint: During President Biden’s visit to Los Angeles over the weekend, someone robbed a secret service agent as he returned from work to a residential area in Tustin, California, according to the Associated Press. The person allegedly stole the agent’s badge, and the agent fired his gun at some point, though it’s not clear if he injured anyone and police have not found a suspect. Real <a href=”
Russian President Vladimir Putin heads to North Korea: For the first time in 24 years Putin plans to visit Russia’s long-time ally, North Korea. Some western counties hate it when these two hang out, which makes sense considering North Korea supposedly has sent Putin supplies to support his invasion of the Ukraine. Anyway, Putin’s visit inspired my freely associated music suggest for today. Enjoy Kate Bush’s Babooshka.
“felony criminalization is still oppressive …”
He’s right, how dare they oppress famous multimillionaires as they drunkenly drive through residential areas looking for children or dogs to run over?
Coming out as gay with a wife, kids, and a slew of sexual harassment charges while applying for a job as chief of police is so fucking messy. It says so much about police workplace culture that he actually thinks he has a shot as the top cop in a major city with all this real housewives bullshit in the headlines.
“Yes, my work life is in absolute shambles, but in my defense, my personal life is even worse.” Girl, werk.
@1- DWI is not a felony, at least not in most states. So So Ashley must be complaining about how we’re oppressing people committing even more serious crimes. How dare we oppress murderers, rapists, burglars, and other assorted pillars of society?
Also, when they arrest the little bastard who killed the young man at Roosevelt for trying to break up a fight, I’m sure we can count on the Stranger to rail against locking him up because he’s a minor.
On the one hand we could use an edit function. On the other, much of what Ashley writes is in fact “So So.”
@4 given the conditions noted in the youth jail in today’s Slog it would probably be inhumane to lock him up anyway.
@6: You mean the conditions the “No New Youth Jail” crowd (like the Stranger) have simply ignored?
They really have become arsonists, endlessly complaining about the ever-increasing budget of the fire department.
@4: the murder of the kid who was trying to break up a fight occurred at Garfield High School, in the Central District. It is one of many shootings at or near the school this year. And all the shootings have been by minors who belong in the youth jail. Along with those kids that are putting guns in the faces of people and then stealing their phones, handbags, jewelry, and cars, and driving worse than Hellcat through the streets of Seattle, Renton, Tukwila, and other areas of King County. Lock them up!
@6- the youth jail is no picnic. You certainly shouldn’t be there for stealing hubcaps or other youthful shenanigans. But our young shooter needs to be locked up for everyone else’s safety. Perhaps the adult jail makes more sense.
Also, I believe that the country should be referred to as “Ukraine,” not “the Ukraine.” The latter treats it as a region of another country (as in the former USSR), not the independent nation which it is.
@7 Yes, that one. It’s also the same one Dow (homelessness has nothing to do with addiction) Constantine vowed to shut down by next year anyway so I guess by the time any of these youths stand trial it won’t be an option. I’m so glad we have such visionary leadership in this area!
Damn Kate Bush was fine as wine
@12 “Washington currently requires that each county have a secure youth detention facility, which means locked doors”
I don’t think this is correct. RCW 13.16.030 requires counties to have juvenile detention facilities that are separate from adult facilities. However, the definition of “detention facility” in RCW 13.40.020(11) “includes county group homes, inpatient substance abuse programs, juvenile basic training camps, and electronic monitoring.” So unless I’m missing something it seems like the KUOW authors just misinterpreted 13.16.030.
@7 Spare us your up is down routine.
You are the kind of arsonist who doesn’t want to fund social services, then claim that more law and order is the solution to all problems even though already having one of the greatest incarceration rate in the world should be a clue that your approach isn’t working too well.
@14: There’s a huge difference between wanting a world where no juvenile ever must spend time in jail, and pretending we live in such a world now. The “No New Youth Jail” crowd has always done the latter, and it’s biting King County in the ass right now.
I strongly believe first-time youth offenders deserve second chances, and that includes plenty of counseling, and other social services, to help them. The “No New Youth Jail” crowd isn’t helping us to get there.
@14
Not one of the greatest. The US has largest incareration rate in the world and the largest raw numbers of people incarcerated in the world- more than India and China, nations with much larger populations.
Last I saw, per the US states, Oklahoma has a resounding lead.
@15 Arguing against a new youth jail isn’t equivalent to not wanting to deal with violent offenders like you and your pals have been pretending. If anything there are already plenty of jail spaces that could be opened up by releasing kids who aren’t a threat to anyone. No new youth jail is about not locking up youth that not only don’t need to be locked up but for whom incarceration is detrimental to their chances of making different choices.
As for your willingness to support social services, I’ll believe it when I see it.
Just to echo @9, there are so many things wrong with this statement “North Korea supposedly has sent Putin supplies to support his invasion of the Ukraine”…
It’s Ukraine not the Ukraine, there’s no question North Korea is supplying Russia with military supplies, and I find it odd that it’s just plain old Putin (I guess we save the genocide pejoratives for Bidden). Glad to see Ashley doing the dirty work for Russian trolls.
@20 An attorney who defends foster youth and their families says that many of her clients end up in juvenile detention because DSHS couldn’t get youth to comply or because kids ran away from foster families:
https://nonewyouthjail.com/2018/08/24/stop-the-jail-but-also-stop-the-racist-and-punitive-family-court-system/
@16 Several online references put the US at No 6 for incarceration rate and No 1 for number of incarcerated people
@17: The current juvenile facility has reached the end of its operational life, so King County has planned to build a new one. Therefore, the “No New Youth Jail” crowd fully intended to leave King County without a facility for holding violent juvenile offenders. This was abolitionist philosophy in action.
Your lack of understanding/admission on this point doesn’t change any of the above.