Your voice is needed to address the drug fueled crime wave in Tacoma – The Suburban Times

Tacoma Business Council announcement.

The Pierce County Prosecutor is urgently seeking change to our state law on drugs in order to address the crime wave we are all experiencing. In November she wrote the State delegation (read her letter here) asking for these critical changes to address crime. That letter was joined by 16 cities in Pierce County-but not Tacoma. When we learned that the Mayor didn’t sign the letter, TBC and many of you took action. We wrote her and the rest of the council asking that they get on board with these important and needed changes. As a result, the City Council has agreed to consider this issue on January 24th during their noon study session.

We need each of you to weigh in on this before that date. (No public comment is allowed during Study Session itself.) The chance to speak out on this is this coming Tuesday, January 10th, during Community Forum which takes place at the end of the City Council meeting. TBC will host a wine and cheese (details below) where we can gather to call in to the Council and make our voices heard.

Written comments are also very valuable. Send those to the ci*******@ci**********.org. See below for points to make. All written comments must be submitted no later than 5 pm on January 23rd.

PLEASE RECRIMINALIZE DRUG POSSESSION

1. Please sign the Prosecutor’s letter and make this your top priority by directing Tacoma’s lobbyist to work with the legislature to make drug possession a felony again.
2. We must listen to our elected County Prosecutor on this issue. Her experience fighting crime every day makes her the most the most qualified to address this issue.
3. In fact, both the Prosecutor and Tacoma’s City Attorney have stated that the legislatures changes to the law in 2021 have made prosecution of drug possession impossible as a practical matter.
4. As a direct result, drug dealing and drug intoxication are rampant. Overdoses are at shocking and tragic all time high. And property crimes have skyrocketed because users steal to support their habits.
5. Treatment is vital to restoring individuals to a healthier state, but treatment and prosecution can go hand in hand. In fact, treatment is often part of the criminal justice system.
6. Pierce County is a leader in successful therapeutic courts including the Felony Drug Court, Veterans Treatment Court, and the drug Addiction Reduction Team. Those programs work and offer treatment, but by decriminalization, the Legislature had reduced the opportunities to obtain treatment and have reduced the intent to stay in treatment.
7. We must reverse this dangerous course immediately to get treatment for those in need and to address the skyrocketing crime rate.