Seattle is once again making international headlines for all the wrong reasons.
A story surfaced following the inauguration of Seattle’s new socialist mayor, Katie Wilson, claiming the Seattle Police Department issued an internal email announcing officers would no longer enforce public drug use laws and would instead refer open consumption cases into diversion programs. The message, originally obtained by the homeless outreach group We Heart Seattle, stated that officers would send drug use incidents to LEAD, the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion.
🧵 THE COVERUP IS WORSE THAN THE LIE
After it was revealed that the Seattle Police would no longer enforce drug crimes & instead would refer offenders to failed "diversion" programs, city officials tried to claim it wasn't true, but their own emails prove they were lying 👇 pic.twitter.com/XwzME9HQ2r
— Ari Hoffman 🎗 (@thehoffather) January 6, 2026
The LEAD Problem: Diversion Without Enforcement Isn’t Compassion
For those who haven’t lived under Washington’s “alternative justice” experiments, it’s worth explaining that LEAD is routinely sold as a compassionate off-ramp from the criminal justice system. But what it often functions as is a way to avoid arrest, avoid prosecution, and avoid accountability. The promise is treatment and recovery; the reality too often is revolving-door recidivism, with the public left to absorb the consequences.
Here in Washington, we’ve already learned what happens when drug enforcement disappears in the name of ideology.
Seattle officials are in spin mode after cops were ordered not to enforce drug laws
Chief's email: “Effective immediately, all charges related to drug possession and/or drug use will be diverted from prosecution.”
What’s the "misinformation?" pic.twitter.com/1JWAUz9Gk5
— Ari Hoffman 🎗 (@thehoffather) January 6, 2026
We’ve Tried Decriminalization Before. It Was a Disaster.
When the Washington Supreme Court issued the Blake decision, the effect was immediate: drug possession was essentially decriminalized. Police couldn’t arrest. Drug use surged. Open consumption spread. Overdose deaths skyrocketed. The situation became so untenable that even a Democrat-controlled legislature had to rush through a fix just so law enforcement could enforce drug laws again.
That history matters because Seattle now appears to be replicating the same failed decriminalization approach.
Then SPD Denied the Story—Until Their Own Email Confirmed It
Concerned by the reporting, I reached out to SPD for clarification. Their media response claimed “nothing has changed” and insisted police will continue making drug-related arrests when they have probable cause.
SPD claimed "nothing has changed when it comes to police continuing to make drug-related arrests in Seattle."
But the email Police Chief Shon Barnes sent to officers said, "As we begin a new year, new policies and procedures are inevitable…Effective immediately, all charges…
— Ari Hoffman 🎗 (@thehoffather) January 6, 2026
But let’s be honest: police are not going to burn hours on paperwork and arrests if they know the City Attorney won’t prosecute. And that’s the exact context here, Seattle has a new City Attorney who has already signaled she won’t enforce certain drug-related offenses.
If prosecution is off the table, enforcement becomes symbolic. And the street-level result is the same: fewer consequences, more open use, and fewer pathways into meaningful treatment.
Then SPD provided Chief Shon Barnes’ original email, and in that email, the language is unmistakable: “Effective immediately, all charges related to drug possession and/or drug use will be diverted from prosecution to the LEAD program.”
That is not vague. That is not secondhand. That is not “misinformation.”
It is a directive.
SPD said, "officers will continue to make arrests for drug-related charges if they have probable cause. The CAO (City Attorney's Office) will then implement their policy regarding prosecution next steps."
However, officers usually don't make arrests they know won't get… pic.twitter.com/n7nKrZK1mu
— Ari Hoffman 🎗 (@thehoffather) January 6, 2026
So when SPD then insists “nothing has changed,” the obvious question becomes: What are we supposed to believe—official denials, or official email?
Even more striking is that the email itself describes this as a “change,” noting that “new policies and procedures are inevitable” and that “this change aligns with” the City Attorney’s new direction.
Again: Seattle cannot claim nothing changed while simultaneously telling officers that this change aligns with the new policy.
Barnes said in his email, "If an individual fails to comply with the LEAD program, traditional prosecutorial measures will apply."
However, LEAD constantly releases prolific offenders who are rarely, if ever, forced to comply with the terms of their release. @weheartseattle…
— Ari Hoffman 🎗 (@thehoffather) January 6, 2026
The Worst Part: The Public Is Being Asked to Pretend the Obvious Isn’t Real
When caught in contradictions, the Seattle political system tends to respond the same way every time: deny, reframe, blame the people who reported it, and attempt to redefine plain language.
In this case, the implication is that the controversy is the result of outsiders, or activists, misreading the situation. But the reporting simply reflected the words SPD leadership used themselves. The messenger didn’t create the story. The email did.
Seattle Socialist Mayor Katie Wilson denies the change came from her, telling media, "You’ll know when I announce a policy change, because I'll announce a policy change," & referred people to her public safety plan.
However, the police abolitionist's plan references "diversion…
— Ari Hoffman 🎗 (@thehoffather) January 6, 2026
And whether SPD now tries to soften it or clarify it, the underlying reality remains: the city is moving toward a model where public drug use is diverted away from prosecution, and where consequences are increasingly rare.
Seattle has tried this. Washington has tried this. And the results were not a safer city or a healthier population.
Diversion Without Teeth Is Just Another Name for Tolerance
Officials often claim that diversion programs work because they are paired with “supportive services.” But when diversion isn’t backed by enforcement, it becomes voluntary—and voluntary programs do not reliably reach people deep in addiction.
What happens instead is what we’ve already seen: the same individuals cycle through the system repeatedly. The streets become a permissive environment for drug use. Overdoses rise. Public spaces deteriorate. Businesses suffer. Neighborhoods lose trust in government entirely.
The Seattle Police Officers Guild (SPOG) President Mike Solan called the new orders “naive and ignorant” and warned it would lead to more crime and deaths.
“The recent political decision to not arrest offenders for open drug use in the City of Seattle is horrifically dangerous…
— Ari Hoffman 🎗 (@thehoffather) January 6, 2026
And ironically, the people who need help the most are left in the most dangerous place possible: untreated addiction in public, under a system that substitutes slogans for outcomes.
Seattle’s leaders call this “harm reduction.” But when harm becomes normal, reduction turns into surrender.
A Simple Question Seattle Must Answer
The public deserves one simple thing right now: an honest answer.
Are officers being directed to divert drug possession and drug use cases away from prosecution and into LEAD?
Because Chief Barnes’ email says yes.
And if the answer is yes, Seattle should stop pretending this is new, compassionate, or evidence-based. We’ve already watched this movie. We already know how it ends.
