Renton Fire Fighters plead for public’s help in demanding action from City Council

Renton fire fighters respond to an aid call near Planet Fitness on East Valley Highway last night, only to find themselves surrounded by mayhem, hostility, and gunfire.  Image from this video

Renton’s fire fighters have increasingly found themselves trying to respond to medical emergencies in the midst of mayhem and even gunfire,  as illegal street races and other criminal behavior block their access to those who need assistance.  Police are doing all they can, but they’re constrained by officer resources and State pursuit limitations that ludicrously ban them from chasing most reckless drivers.  After a completely unacceptable scene last night near Planet Fitness on East Valley Highway, our Renton Fire Fighter’s Union Local number 864 is now asking for the public’s help in reversing the out-of-control deadly trend.

This afternoon they posted this video on their union Facebook Site with a description of the worsening risk, and a plea to Renton residents for assistance: “Call your city and email your council and ask how they are supporting the Police department to keep everyones safety a priority. Help support our brothers and sisters in law enforcement so they can do their job and let’s work together to keep our streets safe.”

I covered the increasing risk of these racing-related events in an April 30th post after a similar scene got out of control in Auburn resulting in multiple gunshot victims.  The Renton Council has some members who occasionally talk about over-policing and/or defunding the police (inferring we have too many officers even though we only have about 60-70 % of what would be the average number for a U.S city of our size), and the State Legislature has also contributed to the problem by limiting authority of police when they try to pull over auto racers.

Five people were injured by gunfire at this chaotic gathering.

In one scene in the video a Renton Police Officer appears to be trying to pull over a reckless driver, and then seems to back off, possibly due to State Legislature imposed police pursuit limitations

Here is the complete Fire fighter post:

“SIDESHOWS ARE OUT OF CONTROL

Street racers gather in Kent at East Valley Hwy and 180th every weekend. Hundreds of vehicles and people fill the parking lots of the 76, Chevron, Planet Fitness, and the Great Wall while people line the streets and drift across all lanes of traffic. On Saturday night 05/19 E314 was caught in the crowd while people threw things at the crew and tried to climb on it. In the video you hear what may be gunfire as we enter the scene and people scatter Last night there was a shooting and 3 people were injured. The number of injuries from these activities are staggering. Car wrecks and spectators hit by vehicles are the norm now. This happens every weekend because people are not stopped from gathering. SOMETHING NEEDS TO CHANGE IMMEDIATELY. Our members will not be able to provide critical care in an unsafe environment and nothing about this is safe. The delay in time it takes to secure a scene so responders can safely care for the injured could be the difference between life and death. Call your city and email your council and ask how they are supporting the Police department to keep everyones safety a priority. Help support our brothers and sisters in law enforcement so they can do their job and let’s work together to keep our streets safe. Videos scraped from publicly available Instagram posts.”

I urge everyone to email Renton City Council at council@rentonwa.gov and insist that they take all the steps necessary to reverse this unacceptable trend.  This may require them to develop additional creative solutions for Renton, add to Renton police funding,  and work closely with Kent City Council and other jurisdictions while keeping pressure on our Legislature to improve the pursuit law; it’s appropriate to ask them to do so.