The Spotlight: Pursuing Solutions

2023 is already off to the races courtesy of Dvante Jackson and a stolen late model luxury SUV. Prosecutors say Jackson tried to run over a Pierce County Sheriff’s deputy. Another risked his life to lay down spike strips to try to stop him. It took the Washington State Patrol’s aerial surveillance plane and a K-9 team to finally track down Jackson who was hiding in the muddy woods after he crashed the stolen SUV and took off on foot. The Puget Sound Auto Theft Task Force says there were 45,033 vehicles reported stolen in Washington state in 2022, a 78 percent increase over the last 15 years. An average of 78 vehicles are stolen every day just in Pierce and King County. Why are so many cars and trucks being stolen? Thieves feel emboldened because of the police reform laws that went into effect in 2021 that prohibit officers from pursuing them unless they have established probable cause that they committed a crime. Simply seeing them driving a stolen car does not meet the standard for using force to stop them. The suspect can simply speed away. Prior to 2021, they could detain people based on reasonable suspicion that they committed a crime which is a lower evidentiary level of proof. If police witness a suspect commit a violent crime and then that suspect speeds away, they can pursue if the person is deemed dangerous enough. So, what’s the solution?