WASHINGTON STATE

Washington State House Democrats

HOUSE DEMOCRATS

Tackling the common crime of car prowls

There’s the one-time criminal – an average guy gets drunk and picks a fight in a tavern, for example – and then there are career criminals, who commit offense after offense.

Police and prosecutors call these repeat offenders “frequent flyers,” and they cost crime victims and taxpayers millions. The average person gets arrested and figures out they made a huge mistake. They don’t do it again. But career criminals don’t stop after one arrest, or seventeen. They keep going.

Car theft and car prowls are two of the most commonly-repeated crimes.

A new law (Senate Bill 5053) recently went into effect to tackle car prowls, a name that sounds nicer than it is. What this crime is really about is smashing your car window and stealing anything valuable inside.

Here’s a good KIRO TV story about the law on car prowls:

New law adds tougher penalties for car prowlers

photo courtesy of morguefile.com
photo courtesy of morguefile.com

Six years ago, lawmakers got tough on car thieves, who figured out they could get arrested dozens of times before doing any time in Walla Walla.

Back then, John Lovick was a state trooper and member of the House of Representatives who helped lead the effort to battle car theft.

That work paid off with a 60 percent decrease in auto theft, according to committee testimony in favor of SB 5053.

Lovick came back to Olympia this session in his role as Snohomish County Sheriff, to advocate for taking the same kind of successful approach against car prowls. (Lovick is now Snohomish County Executive.)

Supporters of the new law testified that car prowls are on the rise now, with career criminals switching from stealing cars to stealing whatever they can inside cars. For example, more than 2,000 car prowls were reported in the City of Everett alone from 2010 to 2013.

Criminals, especially those who make their living preying on others, constantly evolve, and SB 5053 is proof that our laws, police officers and prosecutors can also change and adapt to make our neighborhoods safer.