In a deployment usually reserved for policing large groups and protests, East Precinct positioned the SPD Mounted Patrol Unit in Cal Anderson Park this weekend as part of the ongoing safety emphasis in the public green space.
The horse unit has been at the center of a scrap between City Council president Tim Burgess and SPD Chief John Diaz.
Burgess, head of the Council’s Public Safety panel and a former policeman, and the Council are at odds with a private foundation over continued funding for the Mounted Patrol Unit. The unit has five full-time equivalent employees and a total annual expense of $728,000, according to Burgess, manpower and money that could be better spent elsewhere, considering the unit ranks 36th out of 42 police priorities. In February the Seattle Police Foundation announced a fundraising campaign to save the Mounted Unit, and is dismayed that the Council appears ready to reject donations from them to help keep the horse patrol.
The Council voted to accept the donations to continue operation of the unit through December but Burgess said the unit needs to be shut down af the end of the year as part of City Hall’s budget trimming — though he did acknowledge “police use of horses is sometimes valuable in controlling large crowds of people, especially when a strong police presence is necessary to maintain the peace, such as during demonstrations or civil unrest.”
As you can tell from the photo, there was no such un-rest in Cal Anderson this weekend as the horses mostly stood in the shade and pooped in the park. We’re checking with East Precinct to find out if they plan on making the horses a regular component of the Cal Anderson safety emphasis.
The park’s safety is expected to be a hot top topic at Tuesday night’s town hall at Miller Community Center with Mayor Mike McGinn.
People passed out every 20 feet from each other?
Yes, this is what it has become.
They are victims. Of what, I have no idea.
Someone will eventually make this comment and another comment about SPD priorities.
This problem is getting worse and worse. We’re collecting drifters from other states like flies to sh$t. They really need to make it illegal for people to camp out in the park. I wish we had more resources available to help the homeless, but quite frankly, a lot of them don’t want to be helped. I often get refused for the downtown shelter & a meal vouchers I hand out when I get solicited for money.
I didn’t get the TV crew in the shot.
It’s the only reason they were there.
My guess is the TV spot doesn’t have all the guys on the ground.
Details.
Camping is already illegal in Seattle city parks.
And don’t forget that Cal Anderson is one block away from the SPD East Precinct.
that you just KNOW the SPD is just leaving there is more of a deterrent than the people passed out all over the place.
The other sunny early evening I was recling on the grass and there were people only 10′ from me. They were so close I could hear their conversation. What is this park coming to that I can’t have it all to myself?!
Will take care of a lot of this.
At least until next summer, that is.
When does sleeping become camping? Do you need a sleeping bag? What about a tent? How many hours can you sleep in one spot before it is considered camping? What if you don’t cook anything?
I work across the street and frequently take my dog to Cal Anderson on breaks… a bunch of teenage hippies hang out, walk around barely wearing anything, smoking pot, and act like the park is their own house/living room. If I had a kid, I would be scared to walk him/her around the south end of the park for fear of what we may see. I am already mad about getting an off leash ticket from a ranger when there were people CAMPING and doing drugs at the park feet from me.
Why the homeless people pick up Cal Anderson Park? Because they need a sense of secure, since the park is only one block away from the SPD East Precinct. It reveals they are vulnerable, and they trust police.
How about give three options to those people:
A: offering a shelters and transportation, tell them each of them can have a shelter and one bus pass. So they can live in the shelter and travel to the park if they really like to spend their time in the park.
B: Stay where they are, but they must work 4 hours a day on landscaping (include themselves) for the park.
C: Just leave where they are, if they refuse both A and B.
Anyway, it is just a small mess (lost trust from those vulnerable people’s will be a bigger mess)I think the solution to this mess is communication: Tell them how much you are able to offering, and listen to them and find out what do they want.
Y’all managed to call in the cavalry. Nice work.
Enjoy walking through the horseshit, because SPD most definitely does not clean that up.
It’s only illegal to camp overnight in a Seattle city park, when that park is officially closed, which is usually at 11PM. I wonder how often the police patrol the park after that, to roust out those who are there illegally.
Unfortunately, street people can legally hang out/pass out in the park all day if they want to, with many participating in various illegal/antisocial acts as they are there. Even if they aren’t acting illegally, they create an atmosphere which is far from people or family-friendly.
Fae: of course they decline your kind offer of meal vouchers/shelters! Most are only interested in $$$, which they can use to buy alcohol or drugs.