While Seattle crime is high, levels haven't reached historic peaks (Bellevue: insurance, condo)

[uniquetraveler]

While Seattle crime is high, levels haven't reached historic peaks
The crime rate in Seattle is not good right now, but in comparison to prior decades, it's not the worst the city has seen.


Author: Christine Pae (KING 5)
Published: 5:27 AM PDT March 25, 2022

SEATTLE — The Seattle Police Department (SPD) responded to two shootings in the city, one of them deadly, within hours of each other on Thursday.

The SPD said a man was killed and a woman was critically injured after a shooting in Columbia City. Within hours, police responded to another shooting on Third Avenue and Yesler Street downtown.


Such headlines of violent crime have become common in recent weeks, even months. But have they reached levels unseen in the city's past?

Thursday's violence comes on the heels of the SPD's 2022 strategic plan to address the rise in crime.

Interim Police Chief Adrian Diaz told a city council panel this week Seattle has seen more than a 95% increase in shots fired and a 171% increase in people being shot, compared to last year.

"We know our community has continued to feel this violence," said Diaz.

Despite the recent rise, Jackie Helfgott, a professor and director at Seattle University's Crime & Justice Research Center, said Seattle has not reached historic levels seen in prior decades.

“We're not at a peak,” said Helfgott. “It takes years to see a trend line occurring to see if we're steady on the rise. We don't have a good understanding yet of the nature of types of violent crimes to understand exactly what is contributing to that.”

For years, Helfgott has conducted surveys on public perception and concerns of crime and works with Seattle police for its micro-community policing program. Among the persistent concerns is a lack of police capacity.

While there's no single answer to a solution to crime, increased police presence does play a role in reducing crime.

"There are studies that show that increased police presence will most definitely address hot spots where there's a convergence of factors that contribute to crime," explained Helfgott.

Victoria Beach, chair of the African American Community Advisory Council for the SPD, shares concerns about crime levels in the city. She said she has heard from her community that there needs to be an increase in police presence.

"We don't have enough police officers to enforce, and I think a lot of people that are doing gun violence, drive-by shootings, they know," said Beach. "The gun violence is out of control, and I just pray to God that I'm not driving through an intersection, my grandkids, my kids. That's my fear."


The SPD's strategic plan includes hiring more officers. Beach, meanwhile, said a fix is needed now.

“A lot of people don't like this, but I've been saying this from the very beginning. Bring the National Guard in," said Beach.

https://www.king5.com/article/news/c...8-9beae7160d60

[uniquetraveler]

^^ I was quite surprised to see this, especially after following this forum. Lot of people state that crime and homelessness have increased due to incompetency of city council in last 4-5 years and how life was great back in 70s/80s/90s.

Maybe the truth is in between, a mix of unique situation, once in a generation pandemic, that hollowed out the city core (as office workers stopped going), along with some wrong moves by the governing body like reducing police force.

[Botev1912]

Originally Posted by uniquetraveler

^^ I was quite surprised to see this, especially after following this forum. Lot of people state that crime and homelessness have increased due to incompetency of city council in last 4-5 years and how life was great back in 70s/80s/90s.

Maybe the truth is in between, a mix of unique situation, once in a generation pandemic, that hollowed out the city core (as office workers stopped going), along with some wrong moves by the governing body like reducing police force.

There was no social media in the 70s-90s so people's perception of things are different today. The same applies to other issues such as Covid.

[Hemlock140]

Originally Posted by Botev1912

There was no social media in the 70s-90s so people's perception of things are different today. The same applies to other issues such as Covid.

Yes, instead of just highlights on the TV news and newspapers, now we have text alerts, Nextdoor, Facebook, this forum and other local forums all presenting every mail theft, car prowl or porch pirate incident. Naturally it's going to look worse than ever. The real difference is that today the police are not going to do anything about it in most cities especially Seattle where they are understaffed and subject to the current city council
which condones most crimes. With no deterrent, more and more people will turn to crime, even if they have a decent job. Save up $600 for a new 65" TV? No need to bother, just walk out of Target with one.

[bergun]

I’m sure that the woman who was attacked and seriously injured after being thrown down several flights of stairs earlier this month feels that crime has reached epic levels SINCE it has become very personal AND real.

If crime wasn’t a REAL problem, why are the police securing, in force, Third & Pike and 12th & Jackson?

I don’t trust any of these “studies” that claims that crime isn’t all that bad and that my eyes are simply lying to me and that businesses in the downtown area, are not really closing down at all. And if crime wasn’t really that bad, why are people in Seattle still driving over to Bellevue and Federal Way to buy guns?

[Arcos]

Originally Posted by bergun

I’m sure that the woman who was attacked and seriously injured after being thrown down several flights of stairs earlier this month feels that crime has reached epic levels SINCE it has become very personal AND real.

If crime wasn’t a REAL problem, why are the police securing, in force, Third & Pike and 12th & Jackson?

I don’t trust any of these “studies” that claims that crime isn’t all that bad and that my eyes are simply lying to me and that businesses in the downtown area, are not really closing down at all. And if crime wasn’t really that bad, why are people in Seattle still driving over to Bellevue and Federal Way to buy guns?

You just built a straw man. There are crime rates and there is perception of crime. The point is not that crime doesn’t exist or is not getting worse, but that we are much more exposed to data on crime than we would have been before social media. For example, I get a weekly (I think) regional crime report from my dang doorbell. It covers the ENTIRE zip code. I ignore it, but if I didn’t, I’d see every time a suspicious looking person walked by hundreds of cameras across the region. Which would immediately make me feel less safe, and want to spend money on more security products, which, not surprisingly, my doorbell will happily sell me.

And that’s not even the news. That’s my doorbell!!

This was simply not an issue in the past. We are now hyper aware of things that do not affect us.

Crime is a real problem. Over or underestimating it is also a problem.

[ScottStielow]

That is what happens when you remove the police presents in the areas that they were there in the past.

[509]

Originally Posted by Hemlock140;63172446[B

]Yes, instead of just highlights on the TV news and newspapers, now we have text alerts, Nextdoor, Facebook, this forum and other local forums all presenting every mail theft, car prowl or porch pirate incident. Naturally it's going to look worse than ever. [/b]The real difference is that today the police are not going to do anything about it in most cities especially Seattle where they are understaffed and subject to the current city council
which condones most crimes. With no deterrent, more and more people will turn to crime, even if they have a decent job. Save up $600 for a new 65" TV? No need to bother, just walk out of Target with one.

Depends where you live.

When we moved to Wenatchee in the 1980's the local paper published the COMPLETE police logs for local communities. It didn't take up much room in the daily paper, next to obit's

By 2000 or so, the paper decided to no longer do that. Took up too much newsprint.

A few years ago, I had a 2,000 dollar boat stolen from my driveway and called it in to the Chelan County sheriff's office. They wanted to know if I needed them to show up and file a report for my insurance claim.

If I was not going to file a insurance claim, they were NOT going to show up.

The local sheriff ran for re-election on the fact that crime went DOWN on his watch!!! Well, if your NOT adding crimes to the data base, it will go down in the database!!

Crime is much, much, much worse today than just a few years ago. Don't trust the statistics particularly for minor crimes.

Follow the statistics for murders, rapes, and other major crimes.

Those statistics the police departments MUST file.