Edmonds
Call it a $250-$1,000 loophole.
That’s the value of property a thief could, until Tuesday, steal in Edmonds without facing certain prosecution.
The loophole was closed Feb. 17 by a unanimous vote of the city council.
The loophole opened because of budget problems at the Snohomish County Prosecutor’s Office, and a recent realization by police officials that the laws in Edmonds didn’t allow the city to prosecute those Class-C felonies, like property crimes where $250-$1,000 was stolen, that county officials declined to pursue.
“If the county prosecutor isn’t going to prosecute these cases, and if we don’t have the infrastructure, then people are not going to be held accountable for their criminal behavior by anybody,” Edmonds police chief Al Compaan warned before the vote.
Compaan called the loophole “convoluted” and “somewhat unchartered territory,” but said the necessary city response was clear: New laws.
Starting Jan. 1, 2009, county prosecutors said budget cuts would force them to stop prosecuting suspects in Class-C felonies in order to focus on violent offenders.
The city of Edmonds does not have authority to prosecute any felony cases, but until Tuesday there was no law on the city’s books forbidding even attempted felonies — the method which city attorneys will now use.
Closing the loophole was an easy decision, council president DJ Wilson said.
“The public expects us to do a few things, at the very least, and (prosecuting criminals) is one of them,” Wilson said.
Compaan said he was not aware of any “loophole” thefts that the city was unable to prosecute during the Jan. 1-Feb. 17 timeframe.
The county’s decision to stop prosecuting Class-C felonies was made in November, and was well-publicized, but it took time for city officials to react, Compaan said.
“All of us were trying to get an understanding of what the county prosecutor’s actions meant from a practical standpoint. It has taken some time to understand the issues, and figure out where we are,” he said. “Then we figured out where we needed to go, and we did.”
Reporter Chris Fyall: 425-673-6525 or cfyall@heraldnet.com
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