Mayor Jenny Durkan and Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best announced Thursday a strategy to increase officer presence in Seattle “neighborhoods that see high volume of holiday shoppers and holiday events” including the downtown core and Capitol Hill.
So-called “emphasis patrol” staffing will be deployed starting November 30th in nine areas of the city.
“Our Winter Holiday patrols contribute to the vitality of our neighborhoods, and the safety of our residents and visitors,” Chief Best said in a statement on the effort. “We are increasing these extra patrols by more than 20% compared to last year. Every precinct will benefit.”
Starting after the Thanksgiving holiday, SPD will continue the increased patrols through December in the following neighborhoods:
- Ballard
- Downtown retail core between 3rd and 6th Avenues between Olive and Union
- Capitol Hill
- Fremont
- Columbia City
- University District
- Westwood Village/Roxhill Park
- West Seattle Junction/California Ave SW
The University Village shopping center also made the cut.
SPD will also deploy “specific operational plans and patrols” on both Black Friday on November 29th and December 31st for New Year’s Eve.
Emphasis patrols are “a recognized practice in police departments across the country and an evidence-based strategy to fight crime,” the city says.
The patrols and the extra expenses and overtime that comes with them have been a popular tool for the Durkan administration. Earlier this year, Durkan and Best rolled out “Pre-Summer Emphasis Program” in seven neighborhoods to try to get ahead of summer street crime and violence.
As with the patrols earlier this year, officials are emphasizing that resources won’t be pulled away from regular SPD duties for the extra holiday work.
Seattle Police’s East Precinct, meanwhile, continues its “nightlife emphasis patrol” staffing strategy that puts more officers in the areas of Capitol Hill’s busy clubs and bars every weekend. In the Central District, meanwhile, gang emphasis patrols were stepped up following a deadly shooting incident in May.
Durkan’s office notes that crime is down 6% across the city in 2019. According to the most recent SPD statistical report (PDF), the violent crime component of the total has dropped only 4% while property crimes like burglary have dropped 8% and theft is down 6%. Publicly available crime information from SPD for the various precinct including our own East Precinct has not been updated since spring due to information technology issues with the department’s reporting system.
“We have a duty to make our neighborhoods and communities safer – and we will do all we can to make sure residents and visitors feel safe as they enjoy all that Seattle has to offer during the holiday season,” Durkan said in the announcement of the new emphasis effort. “We will continue to advance livability and public safety through data-driven, proactive strategies and listening to community.”
Durkan has proposed including $847,000 in the 2020 budget to continue emphasis patrols at 2019 levels in 2020.
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