Crime & Safety

[un]Divided: Time is running out to improve public safety

[un]Divided: Time is running out to improve public safety

With a critical cutoff on Friday, some Democrats in Olympia continue to block common sense, bipartisan bills that would help ease our public safety crisis. Brandi Kruse discusses key priorities on the unDivided Podcast.

By Brandi Kruse

We’re not done pursuing a fix to police pursuit law

We’re not done pursuing a fix to police pursuit law

This article is republished here courtesy of Change Washington.  While current state law unbelievably still does not allow police to vehicularly pursue most criminal suspects, we’re pursuing a fix to it this legislative session – and we need your help to make it happen. It’s evidently clear the 2021 law prohibiting law enforcement from going...

Proposal would give prisoners a 500% pay increase

Proposal would give prisoners a 500% pay increase

On January 30, 2023, the State of Washington sentenced four members of the group Crew 38 to over two years in prison for the violent and racially motivated assault of a black DJ at a bar in Lynwood. After the DJ asked them to move away from his music equipment, the four jumped him and...

[un]Divided: Police reform must be done carefully, collaboratively

[un]Divided: Police reform must be done carefully, collaboratively

After the police killing of Tyre Nichols in Memphis, can we avoid police reforms that sacrifice public safety? Steven Strachan, executive director of the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs, says we must be able to approach the issue thoughtfully. He joined Brandi Kruse on the [un]Divided Podcast.

By Brandi Kruse

[un]Divided: Democrats could delay changes to pursuit law

[un]Divided: Democrats could delay changes to pursuit law

Rather than move forward with a bipartisan proposal to fix the state’s broken police pursuit policy, several Democratic lawmakers have proposed creating a 19-person commission to study the issue until 2024. Brandi Kruse urges action on the [un]Divided Podcast.

By Brandi Kruse

[un]Divided: Praise for bipartisan public safety bills

[un]Divided: Praise for bipartisan public safety bills

After passing a bill in 2021 to dramatically limit police pursuits, some Democrats have had a change of heart – joining Republican lawmakers in proposing fixes. Brandi Kruse discusses how the bipartisan bills would improve public safety.

By Brandi Kruse

Urge lawmakers to act on bipartisan pursuit bills

Urge lawmakers to act on bipartisan pursuit bills

A bipartisan group of lawmakers in Olympia are proposing common sense changes to the disastrous police pursuit policy passed in 2021. If you value public safety and the rule of law, take a few minutes today to urge legislative leaders to get onboard. This week, a handful of legislators dropped matching bills in the House...

By Brandi Kruse

[un]Divided: Inslee pledges action on homelessness ten years too late

[un]Divided: Inslee pledges action on homelessness ten years too late

In a series of proposals ahead of the 2023 legislative session, Governor Jay Inslee outlined his vision to address homelessness. As Brandi Kruse explains on the [un]Divided Podcast, Inslee fails to identify the true cause of a crisis he helped to create.

By Brandi Kruse

Lawmakers cannot allow Washington’s drug crisis to continue

Lawmakers cannot allow Washington’s drug crisis to continue

Washington needs a serious drug policy. In 2016, Shannon Blake was arrested in Spokane, Washington. At the jail, officers found a small bag of methamphetamine in the pocket of her jeans. At trial, she testified that a friend had given the jeans to her two days before Blake’s arrest, that she had never used methamphetamines,...

Inslee’s failed leadership at Western State Hospital

Inslee’s failed leadership at Western State Hospital

A recent expose by The News (Tacoma) Tribune regarding Western State Hospital, the state’s largest mental hospital that is located in Lakewood, is not only perhaps one of the closest examples of the inmates literally running the asylum as you’ll ever get, but it’s also a vivid example of Governor Jay Inslee’s failed leadership on...