Some public officials in Mason County, Washington, want to get rid of their petty criminals by sending them to their neighbors.
Under a proposed county ordinance, people arrested for crimes like public drunkenness, malicious mischief, and theft would have the charges dropped in exchange for leaving the county.
Their creative idea is to make their community safer by making yours less safe. Instead of putting these people in jail, they’ll send them to you.
Somewhat to their credit, the Mason County sheriff and D.A. expressed “concerns.” The manager of a local shelter put it more bluntly: “We’re not solving our problem,” he said. “We’re giving it to somebody else to solve.”
It occurs to me that if this cockamamie scheme is adopted and implemented, neighboring counties could reciprocate by adopting similar ordinances, and sending their criminals to Mason County. What goes around, comes around. I wonder if they’ve thought of that?
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