[EDITOR’S NOTE: The following is a Letter to the Editor, written by a verified resident. It does not necessarily reflect the opinions of The B-Town Blog, nor its staff:]
After reading the Letter to the Editor titled “81 local business owners share concerns about crime in Burien” as a homeowner and resident of Burien for 58 years, I could not agree more with this letter.
I would also like to add that after experiencing numerous thefts from our private property, two vehicles stolen, numerous accounts of vandalism over the years, and more recently a break-in at our storage unit located next door to Fred Meyer, there is one common theme that keeps arising when talking to the responding police officers – the King County Prosecutors Office does not seem to be pursuing most of these cases, even when the police officers know who committed the crimes (this is a common complaint of the police officers). I am somewhat sympathetic to the police officers as they seem to be in a no-win situation as well.
After listening to all the rhetoric about defunding the police all last summer (which I am adamantly opposed to) perhaps the real discussion should be “Defund the Prosecutors’ Office” if they are not going to do their jobs they have been hired to do. After all, if they won’t do their jobs, why are we paying them in the first place? Yes, I have heard the standard line that they do not have the resources to pursue all the cases. That’s an excuse to do nothing when it is anything less than the most serious crimes. If they honestly pursue a reasonable percentage of the auto theft, smaller property theft and vandalism cases, to let the criminals know there are consequences for their actions, instead of the common knowledge they currently have, knowing nothing will be done to them if caught (free run of the place) there won’t be nearly as much crime down the road tying up those resources.
It seems apparent that many of these criminals are likely committing crimes on a daily basis. Do the math. Eliminate one criminal (locked up or run out of town) and you stop 365 individual crimes for that year. That would bring the crime statistics down. That’s what you have to do to turn this trend around.
If the King County’s Prosecutor’s Office won’t do the job the citizens and businesses pay them for, then perhaps the Burien City Council needs to have a serious discussion about cutting ties with them and fund their own prosecutor’s office that services the citizens and businesses of Burien.
Sincerely,
Bob Gaull
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