‘Effective immediately’ Seattle Police will no longer enforce drug crimes, will refer offenders to diversion

According to the message originally obtained by Homeless outreach group We Heart Seattle, “effective immediately,” officers are being instructed to refer all open drug consumption incidents to the diversion program LEA-PDA (Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion–Purpose. Dignity. Action, a diversion initiative connected to community-based behavioral health and outreach services. Critics warn the move will likely accelerate the city’s ongoing drug and overdose crisis. The failed lead program was the model for the disastrous New York bail reform, which continues to release violent, prolific offenders.

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Andrea Suarez, founder of We Heart Seattle, posted on social media, “Dealers can still be arrested, but they are smart enough to carry just the right amount of dope to get released, and if you are an addict (likely) the courts will be lenient.”

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She added, “Seattle will continue to be a sanctuary city for open air use of illicit and lethal drug inviting people in droves where they won’t be arrested.”

Mike Solan, President of the Seattle Police Officers Guild, condemned the decision in a statement given to The Ari Hoffman Show on Talk Radio 570 KVI, calling the move a dangerous political miscalculation. “The recent naive, ignorant political decision to not arrest offenders for open drug use in the City of Seattle is horrifically dangerous and will create more death and societal decay,” Solan said.

He continued that the decision “embodies an enormous flaw in those in our community who think that meeting people where they are, who are in the throes of addiction, is the correct path to lift them up. This is wrong and is commonly referred to as ‘Suicidal Empathy.’” Solan added, “Most cops know that the LEAD program supports this ideology, and they don’t want to refer cases. It is a waste of time. We’ve all seen how our streets can be filled with death, decay, blight, and crime when ideology like this infects our city. Now with this resurrected insane direction, death, destruction, and more human suffering will be supercharged.”

The policy shift is especially controversial because Seattle and Washington State have already tried this failed policy with disastrous results. In 2023, following Washington’s Supreme Court’s controversial Blake Decision, drug possession enforcement across the state was disrupted, and many communities, including Seattle, moved toward non-arrest approaches in favor of diversion. The results were massive spikes in overdose deaths and increases in crime.

The situation became so dire that the Washington State Legislature ultimately intervened with new legislation aimed at restoring a workable legal framework and preventing the policy from becoming permanent. The new policy follows the inauguration of Socialist Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson, who previously advocated to abolish the Seattle Police Department.