Budgets demonstrate values and priorities and a majority on the Seattle City Council just sent a clear message that the police don’t matter.  The recently approved 2023 budget eliminated 80 unfilled police officer positions with no provisions for restaffing the severely depleted police department.   But here’s what the City Council might decide is both...

Seattle voters have made it adamantly clear what they want when it comes to public safety, as polling has repeatedly demonstrated. They want crime reduced so they feel safe, and more police officers on the force, not fewer. Yet, the majority of the  City Council isn’t listening. Recently the council voted 6-3 to approve a new...

The people of Seattle have spoken loudly regarding its priorities for the city, but apparently the majority of the City Council isn’t listening. According to recent polling by the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, public safety is the top priority, second only to homelessness. In his budget released in September, Mayor Bruce Harrell listened to...

Like any significant problem in life, public safety in Seattle isn’t going to get fixed overnight. It’s going to take time, effort, and patience. But another aspect of that is having people in charge willing to address what caused the problem and change things that aren’t working. Seattle City Hall and King County right now...

Last week we announced a multi-series investigation into the King County criminal justice system. To kick it off, we’re looking at one of the cornerstones of public safety: a competent, adequately-staffed police force with high morale and a good relationship with the community it’s expected to protect. Currently, the Seattle Police Department is severely lacking...

If Seattle had a Darwin Award-type honor bestowed to public servants, the winner no doubt would be Councilmember Kshama Sawant. However, Councilmembers Tammy Morales and Teresa Mosqueda are giving her a run for her money when it comes public safety. Recently Seattle Times columnists Danny Westneat accurately described what’s going on in the city: This...

If you were among those surprised to find most Seattle voters agree with you on issues like crime and homelessness, it’s likely because you assumed that the loudest voices in public reflected public sentiment. But it’s like with the city’s petty crime, in which a handful of serial offenders are committing most of it. Likewise,...

Three years ago, Bartell Drugs announced it was closing one of its downtown Seattle stores due to rampant thefts. Anyone who has visited, lives in or has even heard of Seattle knows it’s not the only place. From the Safeway in South Seattle to Uwajimaya’s Chinatown-International District location, businesses throughout the city are reeling from...

Seattle’s police staffing crisis is worse than you probably think. It’s no secret that on top of public safety concerns the city of Seattle has a police staffing crisis. But what’s often unseen are the number of quality officers in the area who might have joined but didn’t because of the toxic environment that currently...