Police and Public Safety

Mayor Bruce Harrell is proposing to expand his three-month-old surveillance pilot program by installing more police cameras and funneling data from hundreds of traffic management cameras into the Seattle Police Department’s real-time crime center. The move has draw criticism from civil liberties groups.

At the city and the county level, local leaders are preparing for the impacts of the new federal reconciliation bill, described as "devastating." Those impacts will be felt everywhere from hospitals to food banks.

Last Tuesday, the Seattle City Council voted 7-1 to pass changes to the city’s 16-year-old nuisance property ordinance that will expand the powers of the Seattle Police Department (SPD) to declare a business or residence a “chronic nuisance.”  As Council ramps up criminalization and weighs funding more addiction treatment services, do their plans add up to a cohesive strategy?

Advocates warn Seattle Inspector General Lisa Judge is jeopardizing public trust in the city’s police accountability system, as her office obscures records. The office also withheld what appears to be important evidence in a high-profile case involving former SPD chief Adrian Diaz.

A group of high school student activists make the case we don’t need more cops in schools. We need more care, as the Seattle Student Union fought for and had been promised. The research is clear on what works.

A June 15th hit-and-run crash on Lake Washington Boulevard during a Bicycle Weekend makes the case for expanding the event and improving safety features on the boulevard. The reticence of police to investigate hit-and-run collisions may also be contributing to a culture of motorist impunity.

Reviving community court isn’t a simple fix for Seattle’s criminal legal system — pre-filing diversion programs are more effective, cost less money, and avoid the harmful consequences of prosecution. Here's one Seattle City Attorney candidate's plan.

Automatic license plate readers have proliferated across 81 cities in Washington State, and audits have shown federal agents and anti-abortion states are using Washington plate data to hunt abortion seekers, immigrants, and refugees. This is despite state sanctuary laws intended to shield such vulnerable populations.