In a press conference, interfaith leaders from Seattle’s communities of color demanded that the City Council work to repair the damage it inflicted through its mistreatment of SPD Chief Carmen Best, the first African American woman to serve in that role. According to a report in the Post Millennial, Rev. Leslie Blackwell urged Chief Best...
Seattle Times reporters David Gutman and Mike Carter wrote about the mounting backlash the City Council is facing over its actions to defund the police, with no plan in place to maintain public safety. According to Gutman and Carter’s report, former SPD Chief Kathleen O’Toole says the city is headed for trouble and urged council...
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...
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...