Why You Can't Have Nice Things In Yakima Options

[Coomer]

Recently, there's been a lot in the local news about car theft. A recent high-speed pursuit resulting from the suspect stealing a car ended up killing two innocent people (one of the two injured in that article later died at the hospital) when the suspect crashed into their car at high speed. The thief wasn't hurt too badly, and now faces second degree murder charges.

Yakima already ranks among the top ten cities in the nation with the highest car theft problems (According to the National Insurance Crime Bureau, Yakima had more than 2,000 cars stolen last year alone,) and there are logical reasons why.

In Yakima, car thieves don't get prison time until their seventh offense! Worst of all, this information was published in our local newspaper. I can just see people reading that and then choosing to steal a car to try to make some quick cash..."I mean, there's no real consequences, so I might as well, right?"

What's even worse is that our city doesn't seem to care about auto theft. A friend of the family recently went on a ride-along with a Yakima Police Department officer. The officer caught and arrested a seventeen-year-old kid who was trying to steal a car. He tried dropping the thief off at four different jails and juvenile detention centers, but all four of them wouldn't house the kid for various reasons, mostly because Yakima needs the jail space for the ridiculously high numbers of murder/assault/rape/drug-trafficking suspects.

So the cop let the kid go. A few hours later, the officer got a call about a car theft and hurried to the call to investigate. It was the same kid trying to steal another car.

Absolutely ludicrous.

That's the only way I can really describe the actions of city officials and police officers in Yakima.

That, combined with the corrupt cops, very high crime rate, and immense drug problems, is why I don't live there anymore, and why my parents are moving once my brother is out of school. It's just ridiculous, and it angers me to no end.

I dunno. Perhaps more innocent people just need to die before the city takes action against car thieves.

[97lestyousay]

That sucks that innocent people get hurt or worse from the stupidity
of others. Living a hour away from Yakima I see some of that trickle
into the Tri-cities, we are getting more and more gang activity. Meth
is a major problem here as well as in Yakima. We do have the facilitys (jail space)
to manage the problem a little better, mostly because we have more funds
to work with. The neighborhood I live in is not great or terrible, kind of
midstream. I still have an alarm system for my house and locks on all
gates into my garage area and back yard. Being a parent I worry what
this situation will be like in ten years. It really sucks to look back where
you grew up and see it all going to sh*. The state of WA needs to
step up and focus $$ and resources where they need to be.