Submitted by Chief Mike Zaro, Lakewood Police.
Several months ago I wrote about the recent police reform legislation passed by our state lawmakers and the potential impacts it will have on our response. At the time, the legislation was still new and all we could do was surmise what the impacts might be. Now that several months have gone by, we know what the direct consequences and impacts are with very specific examples to demonstrate how those reforms, while well intentioned, have damaged public safety.
Statistically, since the legislation took affect we have seen increases in gun crimes, assaults on officers, and property crimes. Of the different types of property crimes, we have seen the biggest increases in vehicle thefts. The specific cause and effect relationship might not be clear, but consider this: most crimes are committed by a small number of individuals committing multiple offenses. If there is no accountability for those individuals, they will continue to commit their crimes and actually increase their activity. Accountability takes the form of police intervention to catch the people committing these crimes. This crucial step allows the prosecutors and judges to play their roles in the criminal justice system. This process has been short-circuited, however, by the police reform legislation.
In order for the police to arrest someone we have to be able to catch them. The new legislation removed our ability to do that in a lot of cases through the elimination of reasonable suspicion as a justification to either detain an individual or pursue them in a vehicle. How do I know this is occurring? Since the new legislation took affect we have seen a sharp increase in incidents where people flee from officers trying to stop them in a vehicle (known as eluding). We went from an average of 5 incidents per month to over 30 in December. These are 30 incidents where officers could have at least attempted to pursue a criminal suspect but are now prevented from doing so. Many of these incidents involved stolen vehicles but we’ve also seen incidents involving more serious crimes where the same laws applied.
On the 6th of this month our officers responded to a residential burglary with a suspect still inside the house. Nobody was supposed to be in the house other than the suspect so officers made several attempts to call the suspect out before going in. The suspect had other plans. He had a car parked in the garage and when he heard police outside, he started up his car and drove through the closed garage door and out to the street. Because the crime of residential burglary did not meet the criteria for pursuit in the new legislation, officers had to let him go. Someone breaks into your house, destroys your property in an attempt to flee, and officers have to just watch him drive away. This is incredibly frustrating for the officers and victims and only reinforces the behavior for the suspect.
There was a second, even more violent example that same night. Officers received a call from a female motorist saying she was being followed by another car shooting at her. One of the responding officers saw the suspect vehicle before being able to talk directly with the caller. If you remember from my previous discussion about reasonable suspicion vs probable cause, the officers would need to talk with the victim directly to establish probable cause. At the time the officer saw the suspect vehicle, all he had was reasonable suspicion and had to let the vehicle go. Once officers did talk directly to the victim they learned that the suspect was her boyfriend and he had made threats to kill her. He also had a warrant for his arrest for unlawful possession of a firearm. By all accounts a very serious crime and a dangerous person, but the new legislation prevented officers from pursuing.
It’s worth noting, too, that this happened just days after our first homicide of the year under similar circumstances. The victim called 911 to say she was being chased in traffic and shot at by her ex-boyfriend. Dispatchers had to listen to the victim’s final screams while the suspect shot her multiple times. When officers arrived they found her unresponsive and did what they could to save her but, sadly, she lost her life. I share this as a very real example of the dangerous and violent people who are out there and for one reason or another intend to do harm to others.
For our officers and the victims who call us, these are not hypothetical situations. They are all too real. We need to stop treating public safety like some sort of academic exercise. The laws we pass have real consequences and affect real people. As troubling and frustrating as this has been, there is hope for improvement. I’ve had several promising conversations with our state law makers about legislative improvements in this upcoming session. I sincerely hope they take it seriously and move us in a safer direction. The people of Lakewood and our entire state deserve it.
I agree 100% ! Take the cuffs off of our officers and let them do they job .
Agreed!!!
I can assure the reader, every word in this article is correct and accurate. This is a sad but excellent, educational prospective from the leader of our closest partner agency, Chief Zaro.
Chief Doug Newman
DuPont, WA Police Department
Chief Zaro, thank you for bravely putting forth the truth. We need your leadership, solid wisdom and persistent efforts to make Lakewood a safe place to live.
This is the result of “leadership” addressing things that largely don’t exist, and ignoring the glaring reality of crime.
I knew this delusion would come full-circle.
So who’s now responsible for the damage to property and loss of life as a result of these reckless laws?
The ultimate responsibility is with those who enacted these laws.
They may as well have driven the get-away car themselves.
Thank you Chief Zaro!
Chief Zaro,
Thank you for putting a spotlight on the recent legislative foolishness. Citizens are going to be victimized, injured, and killed in unecessarily high numbers because of the misguided actions of certain members of society including both the voters, and law makers.
To justify changes in the laws that impact negatively on the tools of law enforcement we often hear complaints that our legal / law enforcement / criminal justice system is racist. To support this racist theory, statistics are provided that indicate disproptionate numbers of minorities are imprisoned or incarcerated in our jails.
While I see how, theoretically, the statistical analysis could be accurate, it is not accurate, but rather only misleading.
The real reason for our disportionate jail population is because those occupying our jail cells violated that great TV cop, Berreta’s admonition. “If you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime.”
During my 20+ years in law enforcement, sadly, I witnessed time and time again minorities actually believing the racist lie which always sounded like: “You are just stopping me because I am ___________________ (fill in the blank).
My response often was, “No, I am stopping you because you are doing 50 mph in a 20 mph school zone. Besides, while I am sure you would prefer we not bring up the subject, your car windows are illegally tinted, so I had no idea if you were white, black, brown, or purple.”
I agree with you, Chief Zaro. If citizens want to live in a safe society, several things are required.
(1) Properly fund police.
(2) Provide law enforcement officers with effective tools such as Reasonable Suspicion.
(3) Get real regarding Use of Force.
(4) Let there be consequences for those who victimize others, such as jail, prison, fines, and confiscation (firearms & vehicles). Lock them up, regardless of race.
(5) To combat those exceptional cases where there is racial bias in the criminal justice system, eliminate those individuals from their career positions in the system.
I am not saying there are no racists in our criminal justice system, but I can say I never witnessed a single act of racism during my years in law enforcement in Washington State.
I have been victimized in Mississippi by a white racist cop. This did not happen because I am black. I am white. The uncalled for racist behavior of this southern cop took place because a new friend I had met at a Blues harmonica course at the Crossroads of Mississippi was Black. The cop encountered us as while we were minding our own business in a diner on our motorcycle trip back home.
While I do not wish for anyone to be victimized, it would help society if law makers experienced what it is like to be victimzed by a criminal. Just this past month, a female legislator and her aid had ther vehicle car jacked at gun point.
If the high rolling law makers can step outside their gated communities and experience victimhood, then we stand a better chance of putting CONSEQUENCES in place for criminal behavior.
Here is an idea. For any criminal who takes a car at gun point, they get 20 years with no time off for good behavior. A better incentive is there will be no time added to the 20 years “for good behavior”. If there is bad behavior, we can add another 5 years. CONSEQUENCES!
Readers may agree or disagree with the Joe Boyle fix for making society a safer place, but if my ideas are activated upon, the cost benefit ratio will encourage people considering crime to avoid the bad behavior because crime will not be worth it.
If the criminal is a slow learner repeating his or her crimes, then lock them up and throw the key away.
Thank you for your service and leadership, Chief Michael Zaro.
Joseph Boyle – Former City of Lakewood Resident – 51 years.
I listened on the radio last week to the author of the bill that took away the policemen’s rights. He was in complete denial about the unintended consequences of his bill.
I can only hope he and his buddies that put forth this horrible legislation become victims. Only then will they have a wake-up call.
Thank you, Chief, for sharing reality with our community. We will continue to fully fund our Department and will advocate for necessary changes in state law to enable law enforcement to do their job.
Thank you Chief Zaro! I agree with you, and are so thankful for all you and the Lakewood PD does to keep us safe. I cannot even imagine how frustrating it must be to be trained, ready and willing to stop violence and not able to take action because of out of touch legislation.
If the lawmakers didn’t live in gated communities and their protected bubble they would be crying for more police, stiffer sentences, and putting pressure on the bad people-not those who risk their lives to make our community viable and safe.
I totally support Chief Zaro’s heartfelt plea & our Lakewood Police Department.
Chief Zaro. I was disheartened as I read your comments regarding the legislation that has reduced your ability to protect us. The woman who did not survive probably spent her last moments thinking “where we are the police? I called them!” We need to make this right and get this legislation revised. I continue to be grateful to the Lakewood police department for all you do.
I’m not so sure the consequences were “unintended”. Eventually COVID will fade into the background of history. Politicians have feasted on the power that the alleged COVID “emergency” created: they like exercising that power under the guise of “emergency powers”. What we are seeing across the country is a huge spike in crime via a plethora of politically generated “counter measures” against alleged police brutality specifically against minorities. The results are predictable and will only get worse. This is becoming the definition of a real emergency which politicians created and whom will again step in to “fix” via mandate.
A related issue that may exacerbate the spike in criminal behavior is the discipline issue within the Clover Park School District. It appears that between 2017-2019 approximately 10,000 disciplinary offenses were committed annually throughout the District. Yet in 2021, extrapolated for only a part year in person attendance, the level of disciplinary offenses dropped by 71%! This huge drop in discipline offenses must be accounted for as either a phenomenal improvement in student behavior (unlikely due to increased mental health issues from COVID isolation), significant number of students not attending in person classes (as much as 71%?), or the schools aren’t reporting disciplinary offenses as often in 2017 – 2019 or some combination thereof.
This drop in reported disciplinary offenses in 2021 might be linked to the Clover Park Association of School Principals (CPASP) letter in support of the District’s equity policy promulgated via email by Tim Stults, CPASP President, on 5/21/21 and again on 8/4/21. Stults, who is the Clover Park High School Principal (coincidentally with the highest number of disciplinary offenses), spoke for the Association when he claimed that he (they) supported the “……ending of zero tolerance discipline….”. “Zero tolerance discipline” is essentially the reporting and disciplining each and every infraction regardless of race or ethnicity.
Ending “zero tolerance discipline” would instead view disciplinary offenses through the “lens of equity” which is to say race or ethnicity of the offender. It’s essentially reporting and dealing with disciplinary offenses “on a curve”. When you fail to report disciplinary offenses, the offense rate goes down! The ending of “zero tolerance discipline” is directed and supported by the Office of the Secretary of Public Instruction (OSPI).
Have the teachers and administrators hands been tied regarding discipline in the District? Are the District and OSPI inadvertently growing the next crop of criminals in our schools? The lack of personal behavior accountability based upon race or ethnicity in the District is translated to life after high school graduation in the general population and affects us all.
Look for an upcoming 4 part series of articles in the Suburban Times dealing with Clover Park School District disciplinary issues: total numbers, by school, by race/ethnicity, and by offense.
Voters should keep track of their legislative representatives’ voting records on issues and then vote for or against them in future elections based on agreement or disagreement with those records. Uninformed voters produce unintended consequences. Thank you, Chief Zaro, for keeping us informed.
In addition, Mr. Arbeeny’s observations about Clover Park School District support of ending a “zero tolerance policy” regarding crimes committed by students, which he stated in response to Chief Zaro’s report, are significant. This aspect of the District’s “equity policy” should be carefully considered by all concerned, including the community, to evaluate its impact on us now and in the future. Two ways to express concerns over District practices is to contact your School Board representative either by contact through their official email addresses, which can be found on the District website, or by commenting at a School Board meeting. The rules for comments at an in-person or virtual meeting are posted in the public comment section of the meeting agenda on the District website. While a common complaint in the past has been that School Board Directors and District don’t listen and effectively respond, attempts to change the status quo are being addressed by some Board Directors.
The bad news about keeping track of voters records is that the political climate of this state is run by Seattle and the progressive left. The local electeds just go along with whatever the others in the controlling party say.
The good news is that Lakewood is represented by Dan Bronoske and T’wina Nobles. Both have heavy hands in tying the hands of police officers and therefore showing criminals that they are preferred over regular citizens. You can let them know how you feel about their decisions. As a matter of fact, an article was just published here written by Washington State Democrats who squarely placed the blame for this on the police. Mr. Bronoske is apparently working on a band aid for some of it.
Problem is, it has already cost people a lot of life, heartache, and trust in the legislature. We can all hope Mr. Bronoske or Ms Nobles care enough, but reality shows that they just aren’t the right people to correct course.
T’wina is a communist. Her only interest is POC inner city. She spouts all the words to that end. Check out her various twitter accounts. AND she’s on the UPSD board. Her only interest in the constituents of Fircrest, UP, and Lakewood is to make us pay.
Bronoske is the same. Union man through and through, bought and paid for. Can’t see beyond that. He’s less vocal about it but his record speaks for him.
Chief Zaro,
Thank you for your leadership to fight for the safety of your constiuents. Something must be done to allow our police force to do their jobs and protect law abiding citizens. Your hands have been tied by this legislation which makes no sense at all. I support you 100% .
We all knew this was going to happen when the police were emasculated by City Councils. Councils will not change their views, they no longer listen to “We the People”, they have their own agendas. Let us make sure to remember this the next council elections. I fear that is the only way to change,
Thank you Chief Zaro. I read all of the responses and everyone has good input. I, too, have my thoughts, but I believe we all (statewide) need to be contacting our legislators and keep up the pressure to make some changes that enhance public safety. This was not thought through. I for one, will be contacting my local representatives AND the Governor. I encourage everyone to do the same. We can’t just complain to each other, we need to engage our representatives.
I agree 100%!
When you look at crime in our state and the rest of the United States it is more than a police problem. It is expensive for victims and our tax payers. It doesn’t seem to be that incarceration decreases crime in the long term. Are we just a country of “bad people?” The answer is not simple, though most think it is just a matter of give the police more money and lock people up. That is not a insult to police, I have family members who are police. Police are trained to police, not be social scientists so they are expected to wear many hats. It is to much to expect.
Looking at root causes has not appeared to change much as the prison rates continued to rise. Currently the goals are looking at drug treatment, increased supports and outreach such as Veterans Court. In July 2021 the Washington State Department of Corrections began reducing capacity in prisons across the state as it faced increased pressure from the legislature and governor to reduce spending by $80 million. Washington State was ordered to stop for profit prisons. So now we complain about people running around loose, but decry potential programs for transitioning? Any way we look at it the money must be available. I have college educated & employed children struggling to find affordable housing so I have no idea how felons (banned from most housing and jobs) can live independently. No wonder it is a revolving door.
The incarceration of the mentally ill has made prison the largest institution for those with brain illnesses. Their incarceration numbers grew as the deinstitutionalization movement led to the closing or down sizing of the hospitals. In May 2021 Washington began looking at alternatives to prison for people with a serious mental illness who commit a crime. The program will be open to individuals who are convicted of a felony crime that is not a serious violent offense or a sex offense. Caveat? Where and how will we support these ill people? Where will they live? People don’t want them in their neighborhoods. We don’t use the Advance medication directives available for mentally ill people in order to force meds against their will when they become psychotic and are unable to reasonably make a decision.
When the following US statistics are reviewed it is overwhelming and the answers do not appear so simple.
Washington State has an incarceration rate of 455 per 100,000 people (including prisons, jails, immigration detention, and juvenile justice facilities), meaning that it locks up a higher percentage of its people than almost any democracy on earth.
As of July 2021, the United States had the highest number of incarcerated individuals worldwide, with almost 2.1 million people in prison. The U.S. was followed by China, Brazil, India, and the Russian Federation.Jul 30, 2021
Percent of Black Americans in the general U.S. population: 13% + Percent of people in prison or jail who are Black: 40% +Dec 24, 2021
I don’t think this is as simple as casting blame on legislators. Some I noted were not even if office when new laws were made. We blame the parents, we blame the teachers, we blame conservatives and we blame the left because there seems to be little we can control in this world. We are doing something wrong, but often closed to alternate methods when one way doesn’t work. In the meantime things are not improving. Throwing the same unworkable plan from the last 40 years doesn’t really seem to be problem solving. Perhaps greater collaboration between the powers that be would be a start.
The lawmakers are in complete denial. It is not racist to apply the law. Those law breakers are now taking advantage of the system. Well they need to think if you have no law and the criminals get by with their crimes what do the everyday law abiding citizens do but self defense. Enforcing the law would also protect those criminals as well because it will put them in a safe place jail or prison. I wonder if anyone has asked the law makers what do law abiding citizens do.
Thank you Chief Zaro for feedback from the frontline – and now I’d like our legislators to be accountable for their actions – and the consequences of their actions. Remember this when its time to vote; let’s fix the system that allowed this to even happen!
To our community’s Police Officers – thank you for your service, there are many like me who appreciate you, and know it’s the Thin Blue Line that preserves us from anarchy – or the vigilantism that will rise in your place if you are unduly restrained.
We KNOW there are bad cops! But let’s deal with THEM rather than constraining them ALL – because then we’re constraining the GOOD cops too!
Thank you, Chief, for your letter. I listen to the police scanner daily. I hear exactly what is happening in our City. Officers must be frustrated. I am frustrated. There are so many criminals enjoying all of this. They know that the new changes to police have allowed them the freedom to do as they please with zero consequences. They seem to have more protection than the law abiding citizens who are losing everything that they have worked hard for. I don’t know why anyone would want to be an Officer in these times. I respect the Officers who still have the strength to do their job. None of us are safe anymore. I live fearful. Thank you for trying your best in the worst of circumstances. I pray that we see changes soon. And I hope that those who voted to make the changes we are seeing now get a taste of what it’s like to be victimized. Maybe they will open their eyes. Maybe not. I am disgusted by their narrative, which is hardly true. I appreciate you, Chief and all of our Officers.