Seattle Mayor, Bruce Harrell, took office in January and became the city’s 57th to take that office. He came into office promising to focus on gun crimes, organized theft and open-air drug sales. The violence has been particularly painful in the Central District, Harrell’s home town. The 2021 crime statistics show some steep increases.
Harrell stated, “The issues facing Seattle are varied and real – an ongoing pandemic, a housing and homelessness crisis, public safety challenges, barriers to justice and opportunity, climate change and so much more. While there are no quick or easy solutions, we know progress requires hard work, collaboration, and the kind of innovation our City is known for.” He goes on to say, “As your Mayor, I am humbled to work with you and help move Seattle forward. We will act with sense of urgency and oneness in our efforts; we will celebrate our diversity and rally around our common causes. Let’s create a local government exemplifying the best in serving residents with care, competence, and compassion. Our strength will be how we unite around our common values and shared priorities. We all know we can make the changes we envision.”
Harrell also said he wants to balance a stronger response to public safety with efforts to provide help and services while the city’s police force is taking a “hot spot” approach to tamping down crime concerns in the city. He declined however to identify specific locations. But, a focus area has been 12th and Jackson where Harrell and SPD Chief Adrian Diaz said increased policing effort has also included community response and references to social services and diversion programs — in addition to arrests.
Harrell said the approach has included consulting with defense lawyers about determining how to approach the “hot spots” and focusing on policing that will best address the crisis. Harrell said that means focusing on specific areas and often on specific individuals. “We want to make valid, lawful arrests when appropriate. We want to get people treatment, when appropriate,” Harrell said.
As a long-term strategy, Harrell called upon the state to lift preemption law in order to allow the city to regulate firearms, which is not currently allowed. “My proposition is that every city should be able to look at that space, because I know what kinds of things I would like to be able to do if I had that flexibility as a mayor, and our City Council had that flexibility as a legislative body,” Harrell said.
The Downtown Seattle Association supported Harrell’s promises toward reducing crime and called for action on the issues raised by the mayor. “We appreciate Mayor Harrell’s acknowledgment of the serious circumstances we’re facing, and his commitment to action,” a spokesperson for the group said. “Improving safety is essential to downtown’s recovery and to employers reopening offices. As the mayor said today, we all want to see tangible change.”
