If you stand between Second Avenue and Bell and Blanchard streets, you can glimpse Seattle’s rock ’n’ roll past. The area was home to the Crocodile Cafe and Mama’s Mexican Kitchen.
Today, a daytime open-air drug market and a sidewalk encampment have taken shape nearby, with several business owners saying they are afraid to speak on the record about what they described as a recent trend.
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The scene lands amid renewed concern about safety across Seattle that appears to have ramped up after the city shone during the World Cup.
In its latest Index survey released Tuesdaythe Seattle Metro Chamber found that 39% of 700 Seattle voters named crime, drugs and public safety as a top issue, ahead of homelessness at 33%.
Two-thirds said they were concerned Seattle was losing the positive momentum on public safety and quality of life that came with the World Cup.
The poll also found that 75% of respondents were not confident the city has an effective plan to improve public safety. At the same time, 86% said shutting down open-air drug markets should be a priority, and the same share said the city should help local businesses address public safety concerns.
Mayor Katie Wilson addressed the survey during a press availability Tuesday, saying its findings reflect the priorities of her administration as well as those of Seattle residents.
“Obviously, public safety is on a lot of people’s minds with good reason,” Wilson said.
Wilson cited her proposed budget, which she said fully funds Seattle police staffing with funding for 66 more officers next year than in the current budget. She said the department hired more than 100 officers this year and that a training bottleneck, rather than a lack of applicants, is the main hiring challenge.
Wilson also said the city is working on neighborhood-based public safety plans. She named Belltown among neighborhoods with persistent safety concerns and said long-term progress requires addressing root causes as well as responding to individual incidents.
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“Real progress means not just reacting to incidents when they occur, but taking that really deep look at the root causes,” she said.
The mayor’s comments followed a weekend with multiple shootings across Seattle, including two homicides.
One shooting near Kerry Park on Queen Anne Hill was related to late-night street parties, Wilson said. She said Seattle police will conduct late-night emphasis patrols in the area and that the city is open to considering physical changes with the Seattle Department of Transportation and Parks Department.
Wilson was less definitive about expanding surveillance cameras connected to the city’s Real Time Crime Center. She said the city expects an outside audit by NYU’s Policing Project around the end of October and is discussing community engagement before deciding whether to proceed with the planned expansion. She had originally suggested it would be done in September.
Asked whether recent shootings, including the still-unsolved killing at the Bite of Seattle, had changed her view, Wilson said she wants the audit’s findings first.
“We really need the results of this audit so that we can understand where potential vulnerabilities are in the way that we are collecting and sharing, retaining and sharing data,” she said.
Source: komonews.com
