Spokane Sheriff blames property crime uptick on pandemic-related inmate releases, but other criminal

Spokane Sheriff blames property crime uptick on pandemic-related inmate releases, but other criminal justice players are skeptical


Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich is blaming a reported uptick in property crimes on local courts' efforts to release dozens of inmates in an attempt to guard against a potential COVID-19 outbreak inside the jail. He's also establishing a "property crimes task force" to crack down on the spike.

"Because of COVID, the courts have released a lot of people that should be in jail, and you cannot continue to not hold people accountable and not expect crime rates to be affected," Knezovich said at a press conference on Tuesday. "My citizens are being victimized by people they shouldn’t be victimized by. These were people that should be in jail, but we continually allow them out."

"We’re going to go after our hardcore career criminals," he adds. "We know who they are, and we intend on putting them back in jail."

But some players in the criminal justice system are skeptical that the connection between the pandemic-related inmate releases and the crime spike is as black and white as Knezovich claims.

Read more: https://www.inlander.com/spokane/spokane-sheriff-blames-property-crime-uptick-on-pandemic-related-inmate-releases-but-other-criminal-justice-players-are-skeptical/Content?oid=19541516
(Spokane Inlander)