Pierce Sheriff: Light sentences, bail for crimes bad for WA

As I enter my 39th year as a police officer and my fourth as Pierce County’s elected sheriff, I am disheartened like no other time in my career. I am fed up and tired of my deputies being shot at by catch-and-release criminals. I am not tired of the job, the late nights, the anti-law enforcement politicians or the endless challenges related to the de-policing of our state. As your sheriff I am built for it and honored to serve. Still, I cannot recall a time when there were armed and incredibly dangerous criminals acting so boldly and violently toward citizens and the keepers of peace in our community. It is time for Washington’s destructive social experiment to end. Lawmakers have prioritized criminals over victims and loosened laws and punishments. The increasingly common judicial approach to making bail decisions for repeat violent offenders — eliminating it in some cases, significantly reducing it in others — is a perfect example. The results are predictable. It did not work, and it never will. At the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department, we know it — and you do too. Let me give you a recap of the assaults and attempted murder of Pierce County deputies in just the past two months. You might not have heard about these terrifying encounters in the media. They were underreported. In some cases, headlines were skewed or misleading, focused on the outcome for the suspect while minimizing or ignoring the danger local deputies faced.

• On Nov. 17, Pierce County deputies located a suspect wanted for a felony warrant for murder; the suspect barricaded himself inside a residence and fired numerous rounds at patrol officers and SWAT members during an extensive standoff in a residential neighborhood.
• On Nov. 28, deputies located a suspect wanted for a felony warrant for rape, armed robbery and kidnapping; during an attempted traffic stop, the suspect exited a vehicle and pointed a firearm at patrol deputies in a busy roadway.
• On Dec. 5, deputies located a stolen vehicle; as officers recovered the vehicle, two critically injured gunshot victims exited a nearby residence. A suspect inside the home fired multiple rounds at patrol deputies and officers, resulting in a SWAT standoff — once again in a residential neighborhood.
• On Dec. 12, deputies pursued a suspect through several residential neighborhoods. When the suspect reached a dead end, they fired multiple rounds into a law enforcement vehicle, striking two of our deputies.
• On Dec. 19, deputies responded to 911 calls reporting a suspect firing shots from a rifle as they drove through local neighborhoods. When deputies located the vehicle, the suspect drove toward them while firing rounds at our officers.

In all five of these shootings, the suspects were known felons, prohibited from possessing a firearm and wanted on felony warrants. Several were on active probation and should have been in prison. These crimes are happening in your neighborhoods and to your deputies. Criminals must be held accountable and there must be consequences. Without change — like the restoration of laws that hold the guilty to account, sentences that deter criminal activity and policies that allow law enforcement to do its incredibly demanding job — evildoers are emboldened. As we’ve seen, they act with violence against our community members and their community caretakers, the police. This is not a scare tactic; it’s reality. You deserve better. My deputies and their families deserve better. If you are tired of the daily mayhem — like stolen vehicles speeding down our roadways, boarded-up businesses, kids dying of overdoses and officers getting shot at — it is time for you to demand change. Expressing your frustration on social media helps, but it will not change anything. In a state largely under one-party control, lawmakers have gone too far. Have they forgotten about the victims of crime? I haven’t. Our elected leaders must address what they’ve created: a criminal population who can re-offend and flee at will without fear. Our community must use their voices and their votes to elect state leaders with the conviction to reset the criminal justice system, creating one that enforces accountability and consequences. What can be done about the violence? When is enough enough? In the 2024 election, voters will have their say. Your vote counts.

Ed Troyer was elected Pierce County Sheriff in November 2020. Troyer has served with the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department since 1985, with previous assignments including patrol deputy in Lakewood, University Place and the Peninsula Detachment.