I’m not sure about you, but the addition of on-ramp meters here on Interstate 5 is a welcome and exciting addition to the congestion we already have.
Now, like the big cities we love to be stuck in traffic in, we, too, can add to our congestion with what I’m sure was both a well thought out and very expensive engineering marvel — stop lights on the on-ramps.
It doesn’t really surprise me, though, that after the obvious failures at those places where these traffic signals already exist, they would impose the same misery on us. Really, though, the fix was pretty simple and taught in driving school: when getting on the freeway, use the on-ramp to match the freeway speed and merge with traffic. But now, with the addition of those signals, the ramp will be much shorter, drivers still won’t match freeway speed, and congestion is going to be as bad, if not worse, than it is now.
And bonus — we have the satisfaction of having spent a bunch of money for the added aggravation.
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While running for governor, Bob Ferguson, like many before him, said new taxes are bad, and he sounded reasonable, which pretty much ended after the election. He complained that Washington needed more police and promised to fix that, despite being part of the problem in the first place.
But his promise to add new cops came with a caveat: more new local taxes, and the money could be used for things other than sworn officers. Not to mention the long-term local costs to add cops from a short-term funding promise, which wasn’t a solution at all.
Which brings me to crime statistics that reportedly and confusingly suggest crime is down. But is it? If there is, as reported, a substantial shortage of cops to respond to crime, is crime down or just not being reported? If people have given up calling the police because they feel it's a waste of time, is crime down or underreported? If prosecutors choose not to charge a crime, plea bargains to a lower level crime, or just dismisses for one reason or another, did a crime happen at all?
I really don’t know, and statistics are only as good as the data that’s reported. But I did see a document from the Washington Sheriffs and Police Chiefs dated Aug. 14. Executive Director Steven D. Strachan provided some data, which was shocking, comparing 2019 to 2024.
• National murder rate: down 3.55%
• Washington murder rate: up 42.46%
• National violent crime rate: down 6.28%
• Washington violent crime rate: up 8.16%
• Aggravated assaults nationally: up 2.14%
• Aggravated assaults in Washington: up 18.84%
• Vehicle thefts nationally: up 15.99%
• Vehicle thefts in Washington: up 34.87%
If this looks like we’re generally trending in the right direction, we’re in trouble. And if you’re one of the victims of crime, statistics mean nothing.
Anecdotally, I have spoken to some people here locally who haven’t reported crime, feeling nothing would be done anyway, which could easily make the numbers worse. Or they did report something and felt it was a waste of time and were frustrated by the experience. Most also felt relatively safe here, but some expressed concern about going to Seattle or other more urban areas.
It seems like the foolish policies of our liberal elected officials in Olympia do not seem to be working very well. From the cost of housing, energy and business, to persistent crime, they are failing us, and everything they do makes things worse.
Maybe their priorities are all screwed up? Maybe they should be arresting, holding, requiring bail and focusing on criminals more if we want change? Maybe gun crimes should be taken more seriously and existing gun laws enforced more robustly? Maybe drugs really are a problem after all and legalizing them will only make things worse? Maybe the defund the police movement wasn’t a good idea after all?
Or maybe they are clueless, lack common sense and can’t change?
I think that might just be it.
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John McCroskey was Lewis County sheriff from 1995 to 2005. He lives outside Chehalis and can be contacted at musingsonthemiddlefork@gmail.com.
