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The above map is a snapshot from cityprotect.com for the past three days, Feb 5 to Feb 7, showing five car thefts in the Renton Highlands Sunset neighborhood. If this rate of theft somehow continued in this neighborhood, 608 cars would be stolen from this small area in a year; about one car theft for every two homes.
Renton police officers are trying desperately to put an end to the spree, but their hands have been tied. Once a stolen car is pulling out of a driveway, police officers can’t chase it. Under RCW 10.116.060, the driver may proceed to whatever mayhem they have planned for the vehicle, whether that be running it through the front entrance of a local high school, committing a smash and grab in a local business, making a run through a neighborhood to saw off catalytic converters, or simply turning the car into a weapon of mass destruction and frightening or killing other motorists with it.
Even as Mayor Pavone has been requesting urgent help from the state to give police more authority, and help from the County to follow-up with prosecution of car thieves, some of our Renton City Council has been hedging. Some members of council have even been acting to undermine the Mayor’s requests. It appears they have turned the personal safety of Renton residents into some kind of partisan issue, something I have consistently warned was a mistake, especially since local politics in our state is supposed to be non-partisan per state law. Everyone in Renton public office, regardless of their party affiliation in state and national affairs , should be trying to protect our residents as their number one priority. This includes not letting residents’ vital transportation turn into killer weapons. We need our full council’s help to tackle this issue. Stolen cars lead to robberies, maimings and killings. This can not continue.
I recommend residents consider installing trackers along with kill switches, and/or steering wheel locks on cars that can’t be parked in a secure garage or backyard. But this advice is a band aid, not a cure. Even if you know where your stolen car is, if someone else is driving it police can’t chase them. Residents that are concerned about these issues can contact the full city council by emailing council@rentonwa.gov.
I’ll name names:
Ed Prince and Ryan McIrvin signed onto Carmen Rivera’s letter that countered the City of Renton’s reasonable recommendations to state lawmakers.
I can see the strategy. By aligning themselves with Carmen, they hope to keep the Carmen and her socialist minions that protest at city hall off their backs.
I hope they snap out of it. We need leadership that places Renton residents above what few blue-haired drama kids think.
From a social justice perspective, Ryan and Ed understand that it is crucial to acknowledge that the criminal justice system has a long history of systemic discrimination and bias against marginalized communities.
They join our first LGBTQIA+Council member Carmen Rivera in protecting the rights of all individuals, regardless of their criminal history.
WE WILL work towards a more equitable society, recognizing the rights of those who have been incarcerated is an essential step towards reducing mass incarceration.
YOU WON’T BE ABLE TO STOP US!
WE strive for a criminal justice system that prioritizes fairness, equity, and rehabilitation for all BIPOC peoples!
Wut?!?
Clearly the growing car thefts impact the LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC as much as the rest of the community. It hits everyone who can’t lock their car in the garage, who can’t make a living without their car, whose car is the only thing they own of value.
Not chasing them down and putting them away is not equity and there wouldn’t be any rehabilitation.
It just hurts. Everyone.
Working toward fair treatment of disadvantaged and incarcerated is a noble cause but not holding someone who commits a crime accountable only creates fear across all demographics.
We need to elect leaders who have strong character and who are willing to put Renton ahead of their own personal interests.
When people betray their office, they should be held accountable for their actions, regardless of their political affiliations or personal connections.
Our council members should recognize that criminals are not the “good guys.” Car theft isn’t a joke.
Council members can take any position they choose in an open public council meeting. They can debate these issues on the public record in front of their constituents. The public can participate in the process, and hold council members accountable for their positions. But unfortunately that is not what happened here.
In this case council members publicly agreed in an open council meeting with the Mayor’s proposed legislative agenda (allow police pursuit, enforce more drug crimes, etc). Council publicly voted on the Mayor’s proposed agenda, and approved it. Then, while the Mayor was lobbying the state legislature per the agreed agenda, three of the council members met in secret and wrote a letter in opposition to the agenda and the work the Mayor was doing on the Council’s behalf. They sent this letter to the press, undermining the Mayor. I had never seen anything like this in 28 years on city council, and it seemed like a major breakdown of the public process. I don’t know why council didn’t simply debate these points at the public meeting like they were supposed to.
If any commenters here disagree with the way I’ve described this please let me know.
It’s even worse. The Renton council members kept the contacts within the letter between themselves under the threshold that would trigger the Washington State open public meeting law.
As I understand it, they didn’t reach out to a fourth member that *may* have considered signing the letter because to do so would force their backroom strategy out in the open.
Now do an article about our State Rep David Hackney introducing a bill to partially decriminalize drive-by shootings.
I wish I wasn’t kidding. His reasoning as stated in the bill…. because incarcerating drive-by shooters is racist.
Between this nonsense and David Hackney’s nonsense, you could steal a car and not have the police chase you, shoot someone, and still not have the police chase you and get off with a light sentence even if you eventually get caught and convicted.
The Aristocrats!
Joseph just to keep the conversation as precise as possible, I’ll add some details here. I believe you are referring to house bill 1692 https://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/biennium/2021-22/Pdf/Bills/House%20Bills/1692.pdf. which would reduce drive-by killings from aggravated first-degree murder to first-degree murder. From the preamble:
“AN ACT Relating to promoting racial equity in the criminal legal
system by eliminating drive-by shooting as a basis for elevating
murder in the first degree to aggravated murder in the first degree;”
I agree with you that this bill was misguided and I’m glad it was not adopted. In the outrageous situations where someone decides to kill another human being in our state (commit the crime of premeditated murder), our law has a list of factors that make the crime even more reprehensible. These factors include committing the killing in conjunction with other serious felonies (like rape or robbery), murder for hire, killing a judge or juror that convicted you, killing a domestic violence victim with a restraining order against you, and about a dozen other aggravating factors. Note that elsewhere in the law, drive by shooting without killing someone is already by itself a Class B felony because it is reckless and terrorizing, so it’s not a stretch that it would be an aggravating factor to murder the same way robbery or rape is.
Put another way, killing someone is about the worst things you can do. Deciding to do it from a moving vehicle by spraying bullets is so dangerous and terrorizing to bystanders that it makes it even worse.
Mr. Corman, you need to be careful. Carmen will send her clown show after you if you use facts and data to prove her wrong. Don’t you know using facts is a sign of the YT patriarchy?
Just kidding. I think we’re all learning to stand up to bullies.
Just DTR problems. I live in Tiffany Park and this isn’t an issue. Just lock your car in your garage if your car is so valuable. Just be more aware of your surroundings.