Law

Could the Millennial Generation transform law enforcement, making it more focused on communication skills than physical force? Sue Rahr, the new director of the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission, thinks so.

Rahr, the former King County Sheriff, says people who are part of what's come to be called the millennial generation are different than baby boomers or even Gen Xers.

MasterCard and Visa have warned banks that a third party processor has experienced a data breach. In statement, both card associations acknowledged the breach and MasterCard said that law enforcement is involved and "is currently the subject of an ongoing forensic review by an independent data security organization."

Washington state has become the first in the nation to require verification of age for online ads that promote sex-related services, such as the escort ads that appear in backpage.com.

The bill, Senate Bill 6251, was among a dozen anti-trafficking bills signed into law by Washington Governor Chris Gregoire today.

Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn has proposed a series of police reforms following a damning federal report after a series of high-profile incidents involving minorities.

McGinn on Thursday said among the initiatives were training for all officers on use of force standards, the development of protocol to make sure encounters don't escalate and steps to address biased policing.

TACOMA, Wash. — Manslaughter charges have been filed in the death of a 3-year-old boy who accidentally shot himself with a gun he found under a car seat while his mother and the gun owner had stopped at a Tacoma service station.

Sitting in a coffee shop with a friend 10 days ago, I got a call from an 800-number, I took it and it was a credit card fraud warning. I didn’t answer the questions and ended the call. You know, never give information to unsolicited caller.

Then it hit me that maybe my family debit card would be shut down, so my wife called our bank and suddenly Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and I had something in common financially! We’d both had our credit/debit cards hacked.

And apparently we're not an exclusive club.

If you  threaten to blow up an airport, you'll  face jail time. According to the Washington State Court of Appeals, that's true even if you're mentally ill and the threat is not considered credible.

Back in 2009, James S. Ballew called 911 and, after asking to speak with a specific officer with the Port of Seattle Police, told the dispatcher he had five friends who had placed bombs in and around Sea-Tac Airport.

The call was traced to Harborview Medical Center’s psychiatric ward. 

A sex offender accused of breaking into a house in Seattle's University District and threatening six women with a knife would face a life sentence if convicted of the latest charges.

Robert D. Hitt is charged with burglary, robbery and kidnapping with sexual motivation, which makes the 34-year-old subject to Washington's "two strikes" law for repeat sexual offenders.

The Seattle Times reports he pleaded not guilty Wednesday at his arraignment.

We still don’t know the name of the Washington-based Army soldier accused of murdering 16 Afghan civilians last weekend. But we now know the name of his civilian attorney. John Henry Browne is a high-profile Seattle lawyer who most recently defended the serial burglar known as the “Barefoot Bandit.”

Eugene Fidell teaches military justice at Yale. His advice to Browne: book a flight to Kuwait where the soldier is being held.

OLYMPIA, Wash. — Washington is adopting a Blue alert system to enlist the public in looking for cop killers. KIRO-FM reports Gov. Chris Gregoire is expected to sign the Blue alert bill Thursday.