Crime

448 Stories

Seattle expands video surveillance despite public concerns about potential abuse

The Seattle City Council voted 7-2 Tuesday to expand its use of video cameras by police, despite concerns that the footage could be used by the Trump administration against immigrants, protesters, and vulnerable communities.
- Stephen Howie
Secrecy and enforced disappearances: WA human rights group sounds alarm about ICE

The University of Washington’s Center for Human Rights is warning that federal immigration action has crossed a new boundary and is now breaking international humanitarian law.
- Gustavo Sagrero Álvarez
Seattle memorial pays tribute to 'Grandma Ruth,' 80-year-old dogwalker killed in 2024 carjacking

It’s been one year since Ruth Dalton, an 80-year-old professional dogwalker, was killed during a carjacking in Seattle’s Madison Valley neighborhood. Now, Dalton’s community, and their furry companions, have a new spot to remember the woman known as “Grandma Ruth.”
- Noel Gasca
As gun tests in criminal investigations surge, WA struggles to keep up

Police in Washington are sometimes waiting over a year for the state to test firearms evidence, as the Washington State Patrol deals with a growing backlog.
- Jake Goldstein-Street/Washington State Standard
Seattle man says dropped murder, arson charges against him were result of ‘racist misidentification’

In early June, Susan Lisette Klee, 72, died after a fire engulfed her home in the Wallingford neighborhood. About a month later, with the help of security camera footage, Seattle police arrested a suspect, a 25-year-old Amazon software engineer named Letian Shi. Shi and his lawyers maintained he was not the arsonist. On Friday, King County prosecutors dropped their charges and released Shi, after nearly a month in jail. Seattle Times reporter Sara Jean Green has been covering this story. She gave KUOW’s Paige Browning this update.
- Paige Browning
A string of arsons has hit south Seattle. What we know about the fires

Authorities are investigating a recent string of arsons in South Seattle.
- KUOW Staff
Violent crime drops in Washington as drug offenses skyrocket, latest statistics show

Violent crime in Washington dropped significantly last year but remains well above pre-pandemic levels. And Washington remains dead last in police staffing per capita compared to other states.
- Jake Goldstein-Street/Washington State Standard
Investigative documents in Kohberger case released to the public

New documents have been released in the case of four University of Idaho students who were stabbed to death in November 2022.
- Lauren Paterson
Lummi Nation police officer shot during traffic stop; suspect now in custody

A Lummi Nation police officer was shot multiple times during a traffic stop early Monday morning. The suspect is now in custody after an hourslong search.
- KUOW Staff
Bellingham family moves forward after hate crime sentencing

Washington state reports more hate crimes than most other states. We've ranked in the top five states since 2018, according to FBI statistics. In one case last summer, a 43-year-old man named Paul Bittner attacked an 11-year-old Bellingham boy who was walking back to school from a field trip. DeVante Blow is the boy's father. He talked to KUOW’s Kim Malcolm about the case.
- John O'Brien

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