Bills part of the council’s coordinated focus on improving public safety Today the Seattle City Council overwhelmingly approved legislation, sponsored by Council President Sara Nelson (Position 9), to further accelerate police hiring by offering competitive bonuses to attract the new police recruits from across the country. The full Council also passed Councilmember Bob Kettle’s (District...
Councilmember Tammy J. Morales (District 2) made the following remarks regarding the passage of CB 120835 (SODA) and CB 120836 (SOAP) at the meeting of the City Council this afternoon: “The City of Seattle had both SODA and SOAP zones for over 20 years and research has proven these orders did not reduce drug use...
Today the Seattle City Council passed by an 8-1 vote Councilmember Cathy Moore’s (District 5) bill to fight commercial sexual exploitation and the violence associated with it. The legislation includes a prohibition on loitering for buying, selling or promoting prostitution, as well as a separate provision that allows a judge to issue a Stay Out...
Legislation marks another major accomplishment for council’s public safety work Today the Seattle City Council adopted the creation of Stay Out of Drug Areas (SODA) which authorize the courts to prohibit a defendant from entering a designated areas in the city if they commit a drug-related criminal offense in that zone. Introduced in partnership with...
In response to persistent community concerns about crime and violence, Seattle City Councilmember Tanya Woo (Position 8) will host a forum focused on public safety in the Chinatown-International District (CID). Special guests and panelists will include Council President Sara Nelson (Position 9), Councilmember and Public Safety Committee Chair Bob Kettle (District 7), Seattle Police Chief...
Changes address stakeholder feedback and create tools to support victims Seattle City Councilmember Cathy Moore (District 5) on Friday announced that she is introducing a package of amendments to modify her legislation to address commercial sexual exploitation (CSE). The legislation includes a prohibition on loitering for buying, selling or promoting prostitution, as well as a...
Councilmember Tanya Woo (Position 8) released the following statement in response to Wednesday night’s shooting at 12th Ave S and S King St.: I remember what we’ve lost in our community — Little Saigon was once a vibrant shopping district, a place where people from all over the city came together. The violence must stop...
West Seattle Bridge Update Yesterday we got great news: the construction contractor completed the final pour of structural concrete inside the West Seattle Bridge! SDOT’s announcement notes they: “…still expect to reopen the bridge in mid-2022 and can now work with our construction contractor to finalize the sequence of the remaining work…This week’s deliveries involved […]
Less than seven years ago, the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion program, or LEAD, was little more than a local experiment aimed at breaking the cycle of arrest and incarceration. Initially launched with private foundation funds, the $950,000-a-year, four-year pilot program offered carefully chosen participants individualized alternatives to arrest. Today, LEAD is one of the City’s […]
Donald Trump continues to attack the rule of law through his continuing comments degrading the FBI, the Justice Department, and federal judges and by recklessly branding his political opponents as criminals. I wrote about this last August in the Seattle...