Heading Backwards

[killerweed420]

Looks like the new Seattle police chief doesn't like potheads.

Pot Arrests Spike Under McGinn and Diaz
Posted by Dominic Holden on Thu, Aug 19, 2010 at 3:34 PM

Between January 1 and June 30 of this year, Seattle saw the highest rate of pot arrests in over a decade, according to records obtained by the Seattle City Attorney's office. The Stranger's findings are detailed in a story in this week's paper. Here's a graph that shows the spike in monthly pot arrests:http://www.thestranger.com/images/blogimages/2010/08/19/1282256921-pot_numbers.jpg

http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2010/08/19/pot-arrests-spike-under-mcginn-and-diaz


Moreover, the reasons those people are getting busted is changing:

The number of people arrested just for potâ??as opposed to, for instance, a suspect being stopped for burglary and having pot on themâ??is astronomically higher now.


This year, 147 people have been referred to prosecutors with pot as the only charge, according to records from the Seattle Police Department (SPD) and the city attorney's office. That is a fivefold increase in the number of pot-only cases (last year, only 28 of the 120 arrests were referred for prosecution with pot as the only charge). In other words, pot-only arrests rose from 23 percent to 85 percent.

What the hell is going on? Read the whole story HERE.

[justpics]

the best part is that none of those pot only arrests resulted in prosecution.

[gypski]

the best part is that none of those pot only arrests resulted in prosecution.

That doesn't matter except for the waste of tax payer money, paperwork, and officer time. And the trauma the person has to go through. Ever been busted justpics? Probably not. :wtf:

[justpics]

That doesn't matter except for the waste of tax payer money, paperwork, and officer time. And the trauma the person has to go through. Ever been busted justpics? Probably not. :wtf:


I've never been charged. I don't know a single patient that hasn't had to deal with the police in one way or another, myself included.


It does matter that the police are arresting 5 times as many people for simple possession at a time when the city attorney has declared that NONE will be prosecuted.

That fact highlights the polarization between the law enforcement in seattle and the elected officials. Do you really need me to explain why that matters? Or for that matter why that is really the most critical part to the story?

[jamessr]

Those statistical numbers represent crime has fallen in seattle, assuming initiative 75 holds true still. The least crime leo shall deal with..lol. fat chance huh..it means they have a budget issue and need to get federal funding..follow the money they get from the contracts reimbursement...that's called leo welfare.:D

[gypski]

I've never been charged. I don't know a single patient that hasn't had to deal with the police in one way or another, myself included.


It does matter that the police are arresting 5 times as many people for simple possession at a time when the city attorney has declared that NONE will be prosecuted.

That fact highlights the polarization between the law enforcement in seattle and the elected officials. Do you really need me to explain why that matters? Or for that matter why that is really the most critical part to the story?

Then what you are saying they are still providing dishonest services by running up arrest numbers then failing to prosecute. In a normal person's mind, that is the government committing fraud to satisfy federal requirements for handouts to continue to harass and arrest people for no other reason then getting free money from the feds. And this is government that normal people elected and want? I think not. :wtf:

[killerweed420]

Its just all part of the supposedly non existent quota system. Officers have to keep the arrest quotas up. Its always about the money. If people aren't arrested the money gets cut. Capitalism hard at work.

[G13budsmoker]

"Capitalism" hard at work

and is also responsible for the death of the "humanity" in the human race.

[postableme]

Here's a link that works to the article:

Pot Paradox by Dominic Holden - Features - The Stranger, Seattle's Only Newspaper (http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/pot-paradox/Content?oid=4684207)

And a snippet...

----------------------------------

These Are the Worst of Times

If you thought pot legalization in Seattle had already arrivedâ??think again. Despite voters making pot possession the lowest law-enforcement priority in 2003, Seattle police are arresting more people on low-level marijuana charges this year than any year in the last decade.

Between January 1 and June 30, Seattle police have arrested 172 people for marijuana possession, according to records obtained from the Seattle City Attorney's Office. While that's not a lot compared to, say, New York City, that's far more than double the rate of arrests at the midpoint of last year, when cops had arrested 62 people (there were 120 arrests all year in 2009). And that's more than triple the rate in 2004, the year after Initiative 75 passed, when police had arrested 47 people for pot possession by this point in the year.

Complete article at link above.

[gypski]

Face it, we are nothing but cattle and they count the numbers to dip into the state's federal welfare pool as they run us through the chute. Dishonest services by our government. :D

[justpics]

there's a serious disconnect between the city of seattle and its police.

[killerweed420]

Its all about revenues. $500 fine every time they pop a pothead, plus it makes them look like they're really busy on paper.
People are just going to have to realize that protests are the still the best way to force change and get public recognition. If it ain't in the news nobody cares.