Seattle Police Cannot Enforce Property Damage Laws, ‘Bound by Court Order’
Seattle has laws, but a new court order doesn’t want officers to bother with enforcing them.
U.S. District Court Judge Marcha Pechman issued an injunction on Tuesday in response to a lawsuit filed by Derek Tucson, Robin Snyder, Monsieree de Castro, and Erik Moya-Delgado, who were arrested for writing “BLM,” and “F**k the police” in graffiti on walls surrounding the Seattle Police Department’s East Precinct in 2021.
The concrete walls were erected by the police department to protect the building and employees from vandalism and arson attempts following the BLM riots that obliterated much of downtown Seattle.
The judge ruled that Seattle’s laws prohibiting graffiti and property damage laws are “impermissibly vague and substantially overbroad.” Judge Peachman also argued that the current laws potentially violate individuals’ First and Fourteenth Amendment rights.
The Seattle Police Department (SPD) responded by releasing the following statement:
“Late yesterday afternoon, SPD received an order from a US District Court judge that enjoined, in full, enforcement of SMC 12A.080.020 – the City’s misdemeanor property destruction law. This means that until further order of the Court, SPD cannot take action on damage to property under this law. This is not a matter within SPD or City discretion; we are bound by the court order as it is written.”
“We understand and share the concerns that are being relayed to us by our community, businesses and residents alike. We know, as evidenced by the thousands of calls for service we receive each year reporting acts of vandalism and other forms of property damage that property damage is, in fact, a crime that is of significance to community members. SPD is working closely with the Mayor’s Office and City Attorney’s Office to assess next steps with the Court.”
SPD response to Federal Court Order Enjoining City Property Destruction Law
In 2022, there were 43,986 incidents of property damage reported to the SPD, a 4 percent increase from 2021. Property damage reports include arson, larceny theft, burglary, and motor vehicle theft. Robbery is classified by the SPD as a violent crime, as it involves the use of a weapon to intimidate an individual and steal property. There were 1,760 reported robberies in Seattle in 2022.
Last year, Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell addressed public concerns over graffiti and promised to “increase enforcement of graffiti offenses, striking a balance with larger penalties for the most prolific taggers and expanded diversion options for low-level offenders.”
Judge Peachman argued in the injunction that Seattle property damage laws “criminalize ‘property destruction,’ it equally targets speech. As such, it has a close enough nexus to expression that it poses a real and substantial threat of censorship.” Though the judge acknowledged that “there is allegedly a policy not to arrest children drawing rainbows on the sidewalk,” Judge Peachman still believes that “the Ordinance itself allows the police to do just that and to arrest those who might scribe something that irks an individual officer.”
Legal attorneys plan to file a motion requesting that Judge Peachmen reconsider the injunction.
