A new report from the nonprofit group Truth in Accounting shows that the city of Seattle would have to collect $5,400 from every single eligible taxpayer to pay its bills. The report analyzed the fiscal health of America’s 75 largest cities and then graded them from first to worst, along with giving each city a...
In a recent KOMO News special “town hall” hosted by KOMO journalist Eric Johnson, police, business leaders, and residents highlighted the many challenges and forces behind downtown Seattle’s seeming surge in violence in the last several months. One overriding factor that business leaders pointed to was what they described as an “open air drug market”...
Pierce County law enforcement authorities have taken an innovative approach to handling repeat criminal offenders. These “high priority offenders” are only a portion of criminals, but account for a large percentage of the overall crime in Pierce County. As KOMO reports, Pierce County police have mined data in reports and case filings to zero in...
In a new Seattle Times editorial, the paper criticizes the city government’s response to ongoing public safety problems affecting downtown Seattle and other areas of the city. Crimes of many types have been increasing in Seattle in recent years. These include violent crimes, a few notable examples being the mass shooting on Third Avenue last...
One year after a report commissioned by Seattle business leaders profiling ‘prolific’ criminal offenders who commit a “substantial portion” of the crime in the city, it appears that little has changed. According to the Downtown Seattle Association, 93 of the original 100 offenders profiled in last year’s report have cycled back in to jail. Collectively,...
According to a new report by the Seattle city auditor, the city could be doing more to deal with the mounting problem of trash around homeless encampments. The auditor’s report emphasizes and recommends dealing with the problem in a proactive way. So far, the report argues, the city has been acting in a reactive way...
Seattle City Council recently passed a bill which would ban evictions in Seattle for three months during the winter. The ban is intended to prevent tenants from becoming homeless during cold months, but it may also have some unintended consequences. The moratorium on evictions will be in effect for three months of the year, December...
Organizers with the South Seattle Crime Prevention Council (SSCPC) met to discuss the rising problem of shoplifting in Seattle and the perception that the crime often goes unpunished, making it harder to run a business and enabling more criminal activity. SSCPC invited Mindy Longanecker with the Seattle City Attorney’s Office to field questions at the...
VIDEO: Businesses Demand Seattle Do Something About Rampant Crime Over 200 business owners and residents of downtown Seattle signed a letter to Seattle and King County leadership Tuesday expressing grave concerns over the safety of the downtown Seattle area. Petitioners cited specifically the area on Third Avenue, which they say has gotten out of control,...