Tag Archives: Renton Police Department

Voices

OPINION: Mayors’ Coalition for Community Safety Should Examine Own Police Departments

by Ali Cohen

At the close of 2021, the mayors of Auburn, Renton, and Kent met privately to discuss community safety and violence affecting south King County. Unfortunately, of all the initiatives and meetings that have since come from this coalition, none has publicly addressed the personal and systemic violence coming from their very own police departments.

A quick Google search will provide details on Auburn police officer Jeffrey Nelson killing Jesse Sarey while Jesse was unarmed and experiencing a mental health crisis, as well as a paper trail of Nelson’s escalating misconduct without meaningful intervention. Instead, he won a “medal of valor” for a fatal encounter with Isaiah Obet in 2017. Obet’s family challenged the City of Auburn through a lawsuit; the city settled for $1.25 million in response. 

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News

Families and Community Members Call for Justice for People Killed by Police

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by Guy Oron

South King County community members protested against police violence this past Saturday, April 24. Flanked by a car brigade and bike patrol, dozens of demonstrators marched in the rain along South Grady Way from Southcenter Mall in Tukwila to Renton City Hall, where they held a rally.

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Voices

OPINION: Racism Runs Rampant in Renton

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by Carmen Rivera

Renton, Washington, is home to more than Boeing and the Seahawks’ practice facility. Renton, only 12 miles south of Seattle, is a majority BIPOC city where white supremacy is gasping for air. 

I was born and raised in Renton. I graduated from Lindbergh High School where one of my friends, a masculine presenting boy who came out as gay, had his truck keyed with the word “FAG.” When I moved back 12 years later, I had hoped the amount of inclusivity and respect would have improved, but what I have seen in the last two years alone exemplifies that Renton is still unsafe for marginalized people. 

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Community

Renton Residents For Change Seeks City’s Active Commitment to Anti-Racism

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by Carolyn Bick

Joseph Todd has been pulled over six times in as many months this year. Every time he’s pulled over, he says, the law enforcement officer inevitably asks the same question.

“He pulls me over, pulls me to the side, and the first thing out of his mouth is, ‘Is this your car?’ And my answer, once again [is], ‘Yeah, it is,’” Todd recalled, describing his most recent interaction with a state trooper.

Todd, a Black man, is the City of Tukwila’s Chief Information Officer, but he lives in Renton. Todd said he doesn’t speed, and he certainly wasn’t guilty of what the officer accused him of doing most recently: driving without a seat belt on.

“[After he pulled me over,] I took my seat belt off so I could reach over and get my registration and everything out of the glove compartment, and then he proceeds to tell me he saw my seat belt flapping in the wind,” Todd said. “In my car, if my seat belt isn’t on, it pulls itself back into the wall of the vehicle.”

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