Seattle's City Council is mulling a new criminal code regulation that would make it the first municipality in the nation to excuse misdemeanor crimes if they can be linked to poverty, addiction or mental disorders. Proponents like Anita Khandelwal, the top public defender for King County, which includes Seattle, say the current system isn't working for both offenders and victims. “It sends this powerful signal that as city government, we don’t really care about this type of criminal behavior in our city,” former Seattle City Councilmember Tim Burgess told reporters. As record-setting homicides continue, the Seattle Police Department is facing a critical shortage both in officers and funding. In a Friday interview on "America's Newsroom," Rantz told host Trace Gallagher that it's important to focus on the "greater context" of "what's happening in Seattle."

Source: Fox News December 12, 2020 18:56 UTC