What’s a Living Room Conversation?

Home » What’s a Living Room Conversation?

Today at the Seattle City Council’s Public Safety, Civil Rights and Technology Committee, committee members heard the Chief’s Report to City Council for Third Quarter 2012.

The report covered the following areas:

  • Reducing Crime including: a. Responding to Crime Trends and b. Major Case Investigations
  • Employee Performance, Misconduct & Discipline, including: a. Results of 9-1-1 Caller Surveys and b. an update on OPA Complaint Classification and Handling
  • Leadership and Training
  • Building Public Confidence

You can read the report at the link above for yourself, but I’m going to take a moment now to share a bit about one of the Seattle Police Department’s newer programs covered in the report under the topic of “Building Public Confidence.”  The program is called: Living Room Conversations.  These conversations bring local community members and police officers together with the goal of addressing neighborhood safety concerns in a more comfortable and informal way.

Since their inception, more than 70 Living Room Conversations have been held throughout the City, with about 1000 neighborhood residents participating.  In the 3rd Quarter 2012 alone, SPD organized 18 Living Room Conversations in North, South, East and Southwest Precincts.  Here is a four minute video that will give you a sense of what this program is all about and what you can expect if you choose to host one.

A recent evaluation of the Living Room Conversations confirmed that, from the perspective of those hosting, they are a good way to get to know the officers who serve their neighborhoods, and to learn about SPD services and procedures.

The Community Outreach Section of the precinct. If you are interested, contact your community outreach officer to get more information:

NORTH AND WEST PRECINCTS
Officer James Manning 206-423-9952 | james.manning@seattle.gov

SOUTH PRECINCTS
Officer Jojo Cambronero 206-293-2749 | robert.cambronero@seattle.gov

EAST AND WEST PRECINCTS
Officer Sina Ebinger 206-941-8457 | sina.ebinger@seattle.gov

SOUTHWEST PRECINCT
Officer Alex Chapackdee 206-255-8302 | alex.chapackdee@seattle.gov