Seattle Justice ─ The Rise and Fall of the Police Payoff System in Seattle

"Despite its reputation as a progressive and high-tech place, Seattle had a 100-year history of vice and official corruption. The system involved city official turning a blind eye to illegal gambling, unlicensed bars, and prostitution--in exchange for which police officers demanded "operating fees" in the form of cash payments from establishment owners. The money trail may have started on sordid streets but it traveled high up in official hierarchy. In the early 1970s, Christopher T. Bayley was a young lawyer with a fire in his belly to break the back of this antiquated system known as the "tolerance policy." Against the odds, he became the youngest prosecutor in King County (which includes Seattle) in history. Six months into his first term, he indicteda city councilman, the previous county prosecutor (who had the job for 22 years), a former police chief, and an assistant police chief. This is the story of how vice and payoffs became rules of the game in Seattle, and what it took to finally clean up the city"--

Christopher T. Bayley served as King County prosecuting attorney from 1971 to 1979. He graduated from Harvard College and received a JD from Harvard Law School. He is currently chairman of Stewardship Partners, a land conservation and restoration organization in Washington State.