DOJ creates carjacking task force for Western Washington

The Department of Justice is looking to reduce the number of carjackings.

They’ve created the Western Washington Carjacking Task Force, which aims to federally prosecute suspects.

The FBI, ATF, and Seattle and Kent Police will be involved.

Officials say they chose Seattle and Kent because of the increase in carjacking in the area.

“Seattle and Kent as we see a very large uptick over the last year or so of carjackings,” said Todd Greenberg, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Washington.

Prosecutors will look at all carjacking incidents and see if federal prosecution is appropriate. By doing this, they say suspects will face harsher consequences.

“In federal court, if a firearm is used during a carjacking, the carjacking penalties for the carjacking statute can be up to 25 years in prison, but if a gun is used, it could be up to life in prison,” said Greenberg.

The DOJ also says if they find adults are using juveniles to commit these crimes, they will explore significant federal penalties to hold the adults accountable.

“And we do see that when that occurs that’s going to be a case that we look to charge federally at all possible,” said Greenberg.

In February alone, the Puget Sound Auto Theft Task Force reported 1,069 stolen cars in King County and 426 in Pierce County.

PSATTF says having a new task force targeting carjackings will be very beneficial when “going after the most serious car theft cases where violence is involved. This will have an even bigger impact on reducing auto theft in the region.”

However, organizers feel that juveniles should also be held accountable and say, “Without consequences, it will continue to get worse.”

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