Crime in Seattle
Seattle has the highest property crime rates per capita in the Nation. Much of this crime is fueled by the opioid crisis and an inadequate response by the city, county, and state. The Seattle police force is dangerously understaffed at just over 1,300 officers. By comparison, Boston, a city with the same population and half the geographic area, has a force of 2,200 officers. Understaffing creates an environment of high-workload and high-stress in an occupation that already has significant levels of both.
Bringing the police force up to strength will help our officers de-escalate confrontations, allowing them to make decisions under less stress. Most importantly, it will provide opportunities to build stronger relationships in the communities they serve. This creates a positive environment and fosters relationships.
The encouragement of illegal homeless encampments by the Mayor and Council has served to exacerbate many of the issues Seattle faces. We know that as many as 90% of our homeless neighbors in these camps are addicted to opioids. However, these camps also serve as cover for too many criminals, intent on harming our homeless and housed neighbors throughout Seattle. Seattle has become number 1 in the Nation for property crime. We have also seen too many of our homeless neighbors become victims of murders, rapes, sex trafficking, and assaults as criminals abuse our most vulnerable population.
There is also a pervasive anti-police sentiment on the City Council. Instead of seeking to heal our city and foster an environment of mutual understanding and respect, some City Council members fan the flames of division. This must stop.
Solutions
- Expand police force to 1800 officers
- Expand Navigation Outreach Teams
- Expand emotional intelligence, de-escalation training, and cultural sensitivity training among police force
- Abandon building of North Precinct and build 3 smaller precincts with their own station houses with minimalist designs.
- Revive the Community Service Officers Program
- Revive the Police Reserve Officers program
- Allow retired officers to keep their commission and work detail jobs
- Initiate city-wide de-escalation training for all public school students.
- Promote de-escalation training through workplaces, churches, and community groups.
- Fully implement all recommendations on the Poppe report and get our homeless neighbors inside.
- Close down all illegal encampments throughout the city.
- Enforce all parking laws equally and use Navigation Team to get car campers into housing.
- Finalize police contract.
- Expand body-camera programs.
- Provide incentives for police officers to live in high-crime areas.
- Hire police officers directly from communities of color in Seattle.
- Develop a police cadet program in highschools
- Publicly pressure our city and county prosecutors to prosecute high-level heroin dealers and stop the revolving door which allows them to return to the street in a few days, or in some cases, a few hours.
- Develop Drug Cartel Heroin Task Force to reduce the supply of heroin into our city.
- Actively protect undocumented residents to foster a relationship of trust.
- Fight for a path to citizenship and to fix our broken immigration system.
- Once rapport is established, leverage the relationship to identify and break up Mexican Drug Cartels.
- These same cartels have devastated the communities many of these residents came from.
