The Spotlight

The problems first surfaced publicly in 2014 when a non-profit founded by Law & Order: SVU star Mariska Hargitay began sending public disclosure requests to police agencies across the country.

A man searching for his missing brother is found shot dead outside a notorious homeless camp. Police have no leads. So David and Retired Sgt. Jim Fuda hit the streets looking for tips, and find some interesting information.

For decades Washington State has struggled to provide survivors of sexual assault the treatment and justice they deserve. Now efforts are underway to end the backlog of 10,000 untested sexual assault kits, increase access to trained nurses in hospitals who can administer tests, and state of the art lab is examining new kits. Now a new issue is frustrating investigators and victims: thousands of sex offenders haven?t given the DNA samples they owe.

For families of murder victims, the shock of the crime is often compounded by having to deal with an unfamiliar criminal justice system. That can be confusing and frustrating. The Spotlight cameras go behind the scenes at the King County Courthouse with Victim Advocate Tiffany Attrill as she helps a mother through the retrial of her son?s killers. Then The Spotlight team takes to the mean streets looking for answers in the mysterious murder of a family man. His sister says Arkan Al-Aboudy went looking for his missing brother, Mike. Instead Arkan found a bullet that took his life outside a notorious homeless camp. We hit the camps near the murder scene and run into people who say they knew Arkan.

Our Spotlight crew was there after Seattle Police officers say a man stole tools from a Lowe's in Rainier Valley before jumping into a getaway car driven by a woman with a baby onboard. Officers were right behind them until they finally pulled over. While all of that was happening, our second Spotlight crew was on a sting at The Home Depot in North Seattle when a call came up about a stolen car nearby. Watch what happens when officers pull over the suspected car thief.

Criminals know exactly how to work the system in their favor, but now Seattle Police say it's a new day launching an undercover sting operation to stop prolific thieves. Our Spotlight crew was on a sting at The Home Depot on Aurora Ave. when a call came over the radio about a stolen car nearby.

The Spotlight is learning new details about a wild carjacking and car crashing spree in Snohomish County, Washington. Detectives say fentanyl likely fueled the madness and the victims who came face-to-face with the suspect are lucky things didn't turn out worse.

This week on The Spotlight, a mystery man is stabbed on the bus and now detectives are trying to find him to bring charges against his attacker. Also, home surveillance cameras capture the face of a man who tormented Snohomish County ? why did he bring a butcher knife on his rampage? And the debate over police body cameras: why one of the largest agencies in our state doesn?t have them yet.

Today?s meth is cheaper, more powerful, harder to quit ? and everywhere you look. It generates billions of dollars in profits for cartels, while low-level dealers shoot it out in downtown Seattle, Tacoma, and Everett?s Casino Road. The Spotlight goes back to the begin of the drugs sordid history, how it fueled a world war, created billionaires, and built an underground economy.

A man with 22 convictions attacks a nurse heading to work, a felon facing life without parole kills Pierce County Sheriff’s Deputy Dom Calata, and pot shop bandits armed with an Uzi turn a robbery into shootout. Dangerous criminals who should be behind bars or in treatment, instead are locked and loaded on our streets.

As Seattle Police staffing dwindles and crime rises to historic levels, many businesses are turning to private security. The Spotlight goes inside the secretive world of protection for hire. And talks to families shattered by the violence spurred by downtown’s open air drug markets.

Everett Mayor Cassie Franklin and Police Chief Dan Templeman speak on their efforts to reduce gang violence and help kids find a different path.

Gang shootings can pop off over graffiti because while some of it is just vandalism, other spray paintings carry a hidden meaning. The Spotlight went for a ridealong with Burien Police Chief Ted Boe to hear how his city is calming tensions.

For an overview of how gangs are operating now in Washington state, we turned to Gabe Morales. A former marine, he's a gang expert who served as a corrections officer at California's notorious Folsom State Prison, worked with youth offenders in Los Angeles, and spent 25 years working at the King County Jail in Seattle. He says gangs aren't just a city issue anymore.