King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office Juvenile Division Announces “J-Watch” Law Enforcement Tour Aimed at Boosting Countywide Response to Juvenile Crime
Today, the Juvenile Division of the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office announced a series of meetings with Police Chiefs, detectives, and investigators focused on bolstering a countywide response to juvenile crime. The goal of this tour is to strengthen existing partnerships with local law enforcement, identify challenges local communities face regarding juvenile crime, and share information about new juvenile justice initiatives — including the Juvenile Division’s new “J-Watch” effort, Safer Schools Strategy, and the Juvenile Data Dashboard.
Since the tour launched in June, Juvenile Division leaders have contacted each law enforcement agency in King County and already have completed a number of meetings. Additional tour stops are scheduled in the coming weeks.
“Public safety is my top priority,” said King County Prosecuting Attorney Leesa Manion. “At a time when we are seeing deeply concerning crimes committed by young people — both in seriousness and frequency — it is more important than ever that my office and our local law enforcement partners double down on our shared goal of keeping our communities safe, decreasing recidivism and having clear accountability for criminal acts. I am deeply grateful for the leadership and collaboration of all of our law enforcement partners, and I want to extend a special thanks to the Kent Police, Federal Way Police, Tukwila Police, Lake Forest Park Police, King County Metro Transit Police, and Sound Transit Police — all of whom have had productive meetings with our Juvenile Division Prosecutors in recent weeks.”
“Issues around juvenile justice can be polarizing and controversial — but safety of our cities and communities should not be,” said Jimmy Hung, Chief Deputy of the Juvenile Division of the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. “This tour is part of our commitment to strengthening partnerships with local law enforcement so that we can collectively take the action needed to meet the moment in terms juvenile crime and do the things that we know work.”
“We have an obligation to take a hard look at what we are doing and be willing to make changes to get the outcomes that result in both restoration of our youth and preservation of public safety,” said Kent Police Chief Rafael Padilla. “While we are only one component of the overall criminal justice system, this initiative led by King County Prosecutor Leesa Manion to enhance the focus, communication and collaboration between law enforcement and prosecutors is a solid step towards meeting that obligation.”
“As the Police Chief, I am committed to ensuring the safety of our community, especially when it comes to protecting our youth,” said Federal Way Police Chief Andy Hwang. “We appreciate the King County Prosecutor’s Office’s recent outreach to local law enforcement agencies to strengthen our partnership to address the rise in juvenile crimes. This ongoing collaboration is vital, and we look forward to a reduction in youth violence through united efforts.”
“Working closely with the KCPAO and our partnered law enforcement agencies, we are seeing a focused effort to address the alarming increase in juvenile-involved offenses in the region,” said Tukwila Police Chief Eric Drever. “By combining thorough investigations and prosecution with diversion opportunities, we hope to provide greater accountability for individuals harming our communities.”
More photos from the J-Watch Tour are Available HERE.
One topic discussed during the tour stops so far has been to share information about weekly J-Watch case development office hours, launched by the Juvenile Division of the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office in February of this year. J-Watch is a secure and dedicated venue for all law enforcement in King County to share and seek information regarding juvenile crime and cases. It is also a way for police and prosecutors to work together on case development to solve serious cases. The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office J-Watch team meets every Tuesday at 1 p.m. to collaborate with all King County law enforcement agencies. J-Watch has been incredibly successful in solving juvenile crime. For example, in work earlier this year with the Seattle Police Department (SPD), deputy prosecutors and legal service professionals were able to help SPD detectives identify, arrest and prosecute several high-impact juvenile offenders, including a juvenile suspected of murder.
In January, King County Prosecuting Attorney Leesa Manion announced the launch of her “Safer Schools Strategy” — which seeks to prevent tragedies and support safer schools for all King County children. With a focus on interventions at the student, school/district, and statewide levels, this strategy seeks to make new safety resources available to schools and strengthen the coordination needed to improve school safety. The Safer Schools Strategy also seeks to balance accountability with rehabilitation given that we know keeping children connected to the community and in school is the best way to prevent future, adult criminal behavior. An example of a new step being taken by this strategy is the effort to reduce information silos by notifying schools of students with pending felony firearm charges to improve safety planning. This change was implemented in late 2023, and in the first year since the Safer Schools Strategy launched King County Prosecutors made 100 school notifications (August 2023-August 2024).
On March 1, the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office went live with the first iteration of the Juvenile Data Dashboard (subject to limitations on sharing juvenile justice records under RCW 13.50.050), a project that has been in development since August 2023. The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office Juvenile Data Dashboard is the most comprehensive, transparent, and accessible of any Prosecuting Attorney’s Office in the state. This project added juvenile data to the office’s existing Adult Data Dashboard (which was launched in early 2021 and was the first Prosecuting Attorney-level data dashboard in Washington State).
Background on Juvenile Crime in King County
Referrals* and filings of more serious categories of juvenile crime are up at present (*referrals may not necessarily reflect a “true” crime rate given that some crimes go unreported, etc.). Referrals in this context means investigations referred by law enforcement to prosecutors; filings in this context means charges filed by prosecutors after reviewing referred law enforcement investigations. For example, juvenile referrals for class A felonies (the most serious level of felony crime) decreased from 2018 (249) to 2021 (166) but began to increase in 2022 (258). In 2023, referrals for class A felonies surpassed 2018 numbers (reaching 328 last year); in 2023 filings for class A felonies reached 132, surpassing 2018 (70).
However, this increase in juvenile referrals and filings is not true across all categories or overall. After dropping during the pandemic, overall juvenile referrals in 2023 were lower (2183) than they were in 2018 (2847) or 2019 (2788). This is also true for juvenile filings (in 2018: 1209, in 2019: 1032, in 2023: 682). There were fewer juvenile misdemeanors referred and filed in 2023 (misdemeanors referred vs. filed in 2023: 1018 vs. 111) compared to 2019 (misdemeanors referred vs. filed in 2019: 1673 vs. 382).
