How Seattle’s Crackdown on Crime Ensnared a Homeless Man | South Seattle Emerald

And Made His Wrestle With Dependancy Worse

by Erica C. Barnett

(This text was initially revealed on PubliCola and has been reprinted beneath an settlement.)

Right here’s how charging paperwork describe Trey Alexander, a 40-something Black man who was just lately charged with organized retail crime for stealing liquor from a Goal retailer in downtown Seattle: a “profession felony” and “persistent shoplifter” whose offenses over the previous 15 years have included theft, drug possession, and felony trespass. (Trey Alexander isn’t his actual title; we’re calling him that to guard his anonymity.)

In an announcement searching for felony prices in opposition to Alexander in March, Seattle police officer Zsolt Dornay wrote that Alexander had stolen “not less than $2,398 value of alcohol” over a number of weeks in late 2020 and early 2021. Earlier efforts to rehabilitate Alexander had been unsuccessful, Dornay wrote: Whereas beneath the supervision of the Washington State Division of Corrections (DOC), Alexander “did not adjust to [mandatory conditions] on not less than twenty-two (22) events.” Earlier than transferring to Seattle within the mid-2000s, Alexander had “carried out two jail stretches” in one other state — emphasis within the unique.

Most of this can be a matter of public file, taken from a report Dornay wrote for the courtroom in March. (In the event you acknowledge Dornay’s title, it is likely to be as a result of he has a historical past of violent and unprofessional habits, together with one case that led to a civil rights lawsuit and a payout of $160,000). And there’s loads that Dornay’s narrative leaves out — particulars that contradict the image of a remorseless felony.

For example: Practically each time he was arrested, Alexander gave the deal with of a homeless shelter as his house deal with — often 77 South Washington, the Compass Middle shelter in Pioneer Sq.. In actuality, he lived in a tent. With no job, prospects, or ties to a supportive group, he drank closely and didn’t have a number of causes to cease; when he “did not comply” with program necessities, what that meant is that he continued to drink despite the results, which is a elementary a part of the definition of habit. Within the months earlier than and after the prosecutor filed prices in opposition to him, the Metropolis had swept his encampment not less than 4 instances — most just lately in April, when it threw away the cellphone that linked him to his case supervisor, whose job consists of ensuring he exhibits up in courtroom. 

“They throw individuals away.”

—Brandie Flood, director of group justice, REACH

Even with all these challenges, Alexander was making progress. In mid-2021, a number of months after his ultimate arrest, he enrolled within the LEAD program, which supplies case administration and helps purchasers navigate the felony authorized system. Since then, he has not re-offended, and he lastly acquired authorised for housing earlier this 12 months. However he additionally failed to point out up for his arraignment in drug courtroom, twice; now, he’s going through a warrant and the potential of 5 years in jail, plus a high-quality of as much as $10,000.

“You’re making an attempt to be practical, and also you’re doing effectively, after which this comes up … and also you’re not getting any credit score for the progress you’ve made,” stated Brandie Flood, the director of group justice at REACH, which supplies case administration for LEAD purchasers like Alexander. “It’s an actual setback.”

In current months, Seattle and King County officers, together with Metropolis Legal professional Ann Davison and Mayor Bruce Harrell, have promised to crack down on “prolific offenders” who they argue are contributing a way of hazard and “dysfunction” in downtown Seattle. Elected officers, pollsters, and information media typically conflate these crimes with homelessness, implying that homeless individuals are inherently harmful or that arresting individuals for shoplifting and street-level drug gross sales will cut back seen homelessness in Seattle’s parks and streets. In March, Harrell introduced “Operation New Day,” a sequence of emphasis patrols targeted on felony exercise at Third and Pine downtown and at twelfth and Jackson within the Chinatown-Worldwide District. Days later, Davison introduced she would pursue harsher punishments for individuals, like Alexander, who’ve been arrested repeatedly for low-level crimes.

Alexander isn’t on Davison’s official “excessive utilizers” checklist, which incorporates individuals who have been accused of 12 or extra misdemeanors previously 5 years. (Previous to his two felony prices, Alexander was accused of 10 misdemeanors previously 5 years.) However his offenses fall beneath one other class Metropolis and County officers have additionally vowed to focus on: organized retail theft. The title is a misnomer. Though it implies crime rings trafficking in stolen items, “organized retail theft” additionally consists of lone people, like Alexander, who steal gadgets value a complete of $750 or extra over a interval of six months. A single theft of a high-ticket merchandise may be charged as “organized retail theft”; so can stealing dozens of bottles over a number of weeks.

Ordinarily, shoplifting is dealt with by the Seattle Municipal Court docket, which has the choice of transferring instances to group courtroom, a therapeutic choice that gives entry to providers with out requiring defendants to confess to a criminal offense. (Davison acquired the courtroom to make this feature unavailable to these on her “excessive utilizers” checklist earlier this month, and advocates anticipate this might be simply considered one of a number of steps to exclude sure offenders from less-punitive choices.) As soon as a case is elevated to a felony, it goes throughout the road to the King County Courthouse, the place the first different to “mainstream” prosecution is drug courtroom — a program that requires individuals to get sober, attend therapy and restoration conferences, undergo frequent drug checks, and pay restitution, all whereas staying out of hassle during this system, which lasts a minimal of 10 months.

Regardless of his “failure to conform” with comparable applications 22 instances previously, the prosecuting lawyer’s workplace referred Alexander to drug courtroom. Anita Khandelwal, the director of the King County Division of Public Protection, says drug courtroom works effectively for individuals with deep group ties, an outdoor help system, and steady housing; it’s designed to fail people who find themselves homeless, nonetheless ingesting or utilizing closely, and don’t have a supportive group to assist them keep sober.

“In felony courtroom, it’s possible he’ll stroll away with a conviction, incarceration, and one other file of failing a court-based program,” Khandelwal stated. “What we’re doing with this particular person is extra of the stuff that has already not labored for him.”

Leesa Manion, the chief of workers to King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg and a candidate for the place, argues that drug courtroom “was designed exactly for people like [Alexander] — individuals who need assistance, people who find themselves appearing out due to this substance use dysfunction and wish construction to achieve success. I don’t assume we must always decide Mr. [Alexander] as a result of he has not been profitable previously.” Manion says that, if elected, she would proceed to ship instances like Alexander’s to drug courtroom.

“In felony courtroom, it’s possible he’ll stroll away with a conviction, incarceration, and one other file of failing a court-based program. What we’re doing with this particular person is extra of the stuff that has already not labored for him.”

—King County Division of Public Protection Director Anita Khandelwal

Whereas ready for Alexander to point out up for his first arraignment date final month, I watched dozens of drug courtroom individuals face King County Superior Court docket Choose Mary Roberts, whose tough-love method mixed supportive feedback about defendants’ progress with admonishments (and, in a single case, jail time) to those that weren’t assembly the circumstances outlined within the drug courtroom handbook. “I’m glad that you simply’re taking duty on your actions,” Roberts informed a person who was caught taking cough syrup that contained alcohol, however added, “You knew what the results could be.”

Flood says she will be able to consider two or three LEAD purchasers who’ve efficiently made it by way of all 5 phases of drug courtroom. “In the event you don’t have housing and a cellphone, it’s actually laborious to maintain up with drug courtroom,” she stated. “If we’ve a person who is just not ready to cease utilizing and so they don’t have their very own need for not utilizing, drug courtroom is just not the most suitable choice for them.” Generally, LEAD case managers counsel their purchasers undergo the mainstream courtroom system, relatively than “flunk out” of a system that wasn’t designed for individuals who aren’t able to give up.

However the failures that led Alexander to the purpose the place he’s going through felony prices for stealing liquor from Goal aren’t merely the results of too few choices for individuals with substance use dysfunction within the court-based system, Khandelwal says. “This particular person doesn’t want legal professionals and judges concerned in his life; he wants housing and a few measure of assist together with his substance use.” Even when the Metropolis and County courtroom programs supplied a wealth of choices for unhoused individuals with substance use problems, they’d proceed to fall quick so long as the issues that lead individuals like Alexander to steal what they want — poverty, homelessness, and habit — go unaddressed. 

Within the months because the prices had been filed in opposition to him, Alexander has skilled vital setbacks. A pal overdosed, and though he recovered, the incident despatched Alexander on a spiral, Flood says, and he started utilizing avenue medicine along with alcohol. (Alexander declined to speak with us due to his pending instances; Flood spoke to us together with his permission).

Though LEAD was capable of finding him an residence, he has struggled to settle in — a typical downside with individuals transferring indoors after years of residing unsheltered, in line with Flood. “Once you’re on the road and you’ve got this rat race of issues to maintain you going to outlive, you don’t at all times take into consideration your struggles and trauma, and now that you simply’re in these 4 partitions, every part hits you,” Flood stated. “Generally our purchasers fall right into a deep despair of their first few months of being housed.”

Along with the organized retail theft cost, Alexander faces a felony cost of drug possession with intent to ship for promoting $20 value of crack, or roughly 0.1 grams, to an undercover officer at Third and Pine final 12 months. (Alexander initially supplied to promote the officer a bottle of alcohol, in line with the report.) The arresting officer in that incident steered in his report that Alexander, who gave the REACH workplace constructing as his house deal with, was one of many “narcotics sellers who frequent this space and brazenly make the most of the homeless, addicted inhabitants who keep on the close by shelters.” The drug cost carries a possible sentence of as much as 10 years in jail and a high-quality as much as $25,000.

LEAD continues to work with Alexander, who continues to point out up for his weekly appointments at its workplace. If he can recover from his newest private and authorized hurdles, Flood says, he needs to search for a job. He isn’t able to give up ingesting or utilizing medicine, however, Flood says, that’s okay. “Even when he by no means quits utilizing utterly, he could make some vital modifications in his life the place he’s going to be okay. In the event you ship him away for a few years, he’s going to be close to 50 when he will get out. Folks get thrown away.”

Flood says Black males like Alexander, specifically, have been focused within the Metropolis’s high-profile efforts to crack down on crime. “We’ve got one toe within the door. He has an residence. Let’s give him the chance to go to therapy, like they’d for any white man,” she stated. One other REACH consumer, a queer, deaf Black man charged with stealing garments and “knick-knacks” from two native shops, is going through the prospect of six months in jail as a result of a safety guard informed police the person stated he had a gun, Flood continued.

“That’s what I’m fearful about — that we’re not going to concentrate to the underlying points due to the fearmongering the media is participating in about theft rings. It’s actually not theft rings — it’s thefts [that stem from] poverty.”

Erica C. Barnett is a feminist, an urbanist, and an obsessive observer of politics, transportation, and the quotidian internal workings of Metropolis Corridor.

? Featured Picture: (Photograph: Erica C. Barnett)

Earlier than you progress on to the following story …
Please think about that the article you simply learn was made attainable by the beneficiant monetary help of donors and sponsors. The Emerald is a BIPOC-led nonprofit information outlet with the mission of providing a wider lens of our area’s most various, least prosperous, and woefully under-reported communities. Please think about making a one-time present or, higher but, becoming a member of our Rainmaker Household by turning into a month-to-month donor. Your help will assist present truthful pay for our journalists and allow them to proceed writing the vital tales that supply related information, data, and evaluation. Help the Emerald!