By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
The FBI Crime Report for 2022—released Oct. 16—said homicides nationally were down 6.1 percent from 2021, but in Washington State, there was a 16.6 percent rise in murders last year over the previous year, according to the annual crime report from the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs (WASPC).
Yet, the Evergreen State has in recent years adopted increasingly stricter gun control policies which were supposed to reduce the violence. So far, nobody—especially the Seattle-based and billionaire-backed gun prohibition lobby and its allies in local and state government—has offered an explanation.
According to the 2022 FBI report, “there were 15,047 homicide incidents, and 16,485 offenses reported in the United States by 13,293 law enforcement agencies that submitted National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) data, and covers 75% of the total population.”
In the Evergreen State, according to the WASPC report released in September, “In 2022, there were 204 agencies that reported two consecutive years of NIBRS data. Of these agencies, there were 527,124 Group A offenses reported in 2022; compared to 485,826 Group A offenses reported in 2021. This resulted in an increase of 8.5% in Group A offenses reported.”
The WASPC noted, “There were 394 murders in 2022; this is an increase of 16.6% compared to 338 murders in 2021.”
Currently, Seattle appears headed for a new record number of murders. According to the “X” (formerly Twitter) side “Seattle Homicide” (no connection to the Seattle Police Department), there have been 66 homicides already this year. The record of 69 murders was set in 1994, and with more than two months remaining in the year, it is likely that figure will be eclipsed by Dec. 31, if not before.
This forecast is even more dire in the aftermath of King County Executive Dow Constantine’s announcement a few days ago that he is launching an “Office of Gun Violence Prevention.” Seattle is located in King County.
Gun control efforts appear to have failed in Seattle and statewide. Washington’s body count has been climbing in recent years. According to FBI data, in 2019, there were 194 homicides in the state, including 135 involving guns. The next year (2020) saw a dramatic spike to 298 murders, including 177 involving firearms. In 2021, according to the FBI, “there were 304 homicide incidents, and 331 offenses reported in Washington by 251 law enforcement agencies that submitted National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) data, and covers 99% of the total population.”
The “X” site “Washington Homicide” lists 309 slayings so far statewide this year and concurs with the WASPC report of 394 murders in 2022.
Last year, again according to the new FBI report, “there were 362 homicide incidents, and 385 offenses reported in Washington by 246 law enforcement agencies that submitted National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) data, and covers 99% of the total population.”
This might explain the disparity between the FBI and WASPC reports, which differ by 32 reported slayings. TGM attempted to contact WASPC, but the number was “temporarily unavailable.”
