Safer Streets Initiative
Last Friday morning I stopped at First Avenue and Battery Street (Belltown neighborhood) to drop off my laundry. It was just after 7 a.m. A group of eight people - six men and two women - were standing near the door of the laundry.
One man had wads of cash in both hands. He was dickering with one of the women over price. She protested, "too much," and "more than last time." Here was an open-air drug market, unfortunately a less than desired yet frequent example of commerce in our city.
My own experience last Friday morning is typical of the complaints I receive at my Council office on a daily basis. Residents from nearly every neighborhood call or email about low-level street crime and social disorder that is destroying their sense of community.
Today, I released a Council-generated Safer Street Initiative which is designed to curb street crime and improve our quality of life at the sidewalk level. You can read a summary of the Initiative here. Read today's Seattle PI coverage of the Initiative.
Later today, my Council committee will begin discussion of the Initiative and review a preliminary schedule for consideration of new legislation required by the Initiative.
The latest literature on policing strategies and social disorder shows that an integrated approach involving prevention and treatment, assertive policing, and community outreach/engagement provides the best results for neighborhoods. You can read about the experience of Providence, Rhode Island with quality-of-life or problem-solving policing here. It's a great story about how a community took back their streets and restored civil order. Academic research has also established that more assertive policing can be effective at restoring a community's confidence and reduce fear of crime. This article from May 2008 is an excellent summary of current thought among criminologists and practitioners about "broken windows policing" and why it's necessary.
The Safer Streets Initiative is a 12-part program to address the many complaints we receive about social disorder from nearly every neighborhood in the city. It's not a magic bullet or quick fix. It's a beginning designed to address a complicated set of problems. The Initiative would pair police officers with mental health professionals to respond jointly to incidents, create alternatives to jail or hospitalization, continue the city's plan to increase the number of patrol officers in our neighborhoods, increase financial penalties for patronizing a prostitute and use the funds to restore peer-counseling and support groups for women involved in prostitution, create safe housing and transition services for children involved in prostitution, impose civil and criminal penalties on business owners and property owners who "knowingly allow criminal behavior to occur and fail to take steps to stop it,"
call for more assertive policing targeted a gangs, illegal weapons, graffiti, and open-air drug markets, re-establish the city prosecutor's High Impact Offender Targeting Program, and return School Resource Officers to some Seattle Public Schools.
I would appreciate hearing your comments or questions about the Initiative.
It would also be helpful if you would share your opinion about the Initiative with my Council colleagues. I've provided a list with their contact information below. Thank you.
Councilmember Sally J. Clark, sally.clark@seattle.gov, (206) 684-8802
Councilmember Richard Conlin, richard.conlin@seattle.gov, (206) 684-8805
Councilmember Jan Drago, jan.drago@seattle.gov, (206) 684-8801
Councilmember Jean Godden, jean.godden@seattle.gov, (206) 684-8807
Councilmember Bruce Harrell, bruce.harrell@seattle.gov, (206) 684-8804
Councilmember Nick Licata, nick.licata@seattle.gov, (206) 684-8803
Councilmember Richard J. McIver, richard.mciver@seattle.gov, (206) 684-8800
Councilmember Tom Rasmussen, tom.rasmussen@seattle.gov, (206) 684-8808
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New pact with Seattle Police Guild boosts service, strengthens oversight
The Seattle City Council has began consideration of legislation that will usher in a new — and long overdue — era for police work in our city.
The council will review and ratify a new labor agreement with the Seattle Police Officers' Guild. This contract will fundamentally alter policing in Seattle by recognizing the training, skills and professional service of our officers; rewarding them fairly; and adjusting their deployment for greater effectiveness.
Once ratified, the new contract will raise compensation levels for Seattle officers to the highest in Washington. These increases will help resolve long-term issues of recruitment and attrition. New officers will see a 36-percent jump in salary (to $64,300 over the four-year term of the contract), plus additional hiring incentives and moving allowances. Twelve-year veterans, as one example, will realize a 25.6-percent increase, to $90,500.
Since announcement of the new contract terms, officer recruitment has soared, and the department is now ahead of pace to achieve its 98-officer hiring target for this year.
The contract will also dramatically change — for the first time in at least 35 years — how officers are deployed. Three patrol shifts will become six, some overlapping at critical, high-demand time periods. Officers will be assigned based on where and when they are most needed, predicated on 911-call patterns, crime statistics and other key factors.
The previous system forced officers into a reactive stance. Under this new system, officers will be able to engage in positive, proactive efforts: getting out of their cars, meeting citizens in their districts, getting acquainted with neighborhood kids and business owners, following crime leads and uncovering evidence.
The City Council will also debate and adopt improvements to police oversight, accountability and transparency policies.
Last year, Mayor Greg Nickels appointed a special civilian panel to examine how the city might upgrade oversight of police conduct. In January, this panel, led by former Superior Court Judge Terry Carroll, issued 29 specific recommendations aimed at increasing public confidence in our police officers and their work.
The new labor contract, along with the additional ordinances the City Council will consider, adopts every one of these 29 recommendations — plus an additional one, which I advocated, that increases the authority of the civilian auditor.
These changes will strengthen Seattle's three-part system of police oversight:
- The civilian-led Office of Professional Accountability (OPA), which receives and investigates complaints of misconduct;
- The independent civilian auditor, who reviews investigations, and;
- The OPA Review Board, which evaluates the complaint-handling process and monitors trends.
The OPA will strengthen communication with complainants, ensuring they are updated on the status of their case. The civilian auditor's ability to review investigations in real time will be formalized, and the position will receive new authority to direct further investigation as appropriate. The OPA Review Board will be expanded to seven members and the scope of its work enlarged to provide leadership on citizen communication.
The Review Board is crucial to this system of police accountability. That's why the City Council will soon appoint seven highly respected individuals to begin new terms of service on the board. Each has the disposition, perspective and life experience to inspire confidence among members of the community and our police officers.
We demand the absolute best from our officers, even under trying circumstances and when no one is watching. They serve as our eyes, our hands. They serve at our behest and are accountable to us. The upcoming changes in our police oversight system will help underscore this reality. The Council's actions in the coming weeks will reflect both the value and honor we give our police officers and our expectations for their good service.
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Fire Station 20 Updates
 Fire Station 20 Siting Study, Executive Study
See the full study
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