We hope you enjoyed the holiday season and want to welcome you all into 2023. If there is a theme this year for us at Change Washington, it’s “change things for the better.” The opportunity is there. Polling repeatedly demonstrates Seattle voters are tired of the status quo, and their numbers wanting change continues to...

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...

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...

Seattle needs more police, and police reform. These two concepts are not at odds. Some want you to believe that fully staffing the police department and enacting police reform can’t be accomplished together. We don’t buy that. Thankfully, police reform advocates themselves aren’t buying it, either. In a recent Seattle Times guest column, Harriett Walden,...

Seattle City Attorney Ann Davison’s election last November showed that Seattle residents are ready for real change for the city. However, the ongoing rampant crime would not be possible if it weren’t for the gross enabling by former mayors, the City Council, and former city attorney Pete Holmes. Under his tenure, an astounding 50 percent...

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...