Mayor Murray declares ‘Summer of Safety’ in speech to council

| Crime | Safety | West Seattle news | West Seattle politics

As promised, Mayor Murray convened the City Council this afternoon for a speech about public safety, and declared his intent for this to be a “Summer of Safety.” You can see video of his speech above, and read the full text (as prepared) here. The mayor acknowledged, “After years of fragmentation and disorganization, our city today faces a crisis of confidence in public safety,” while also asserting that “public safety is not something provided to the community by the government.” Among the action steps he promised were “creation of a joint enforcement team to ensure that across City departments we have a coordinated response to chronic nuisance businesses and property owners who create hotspots for crime and disorderly behavior – and who disrupt the quality of life in our neighborhoods.” He also announced plans for community walks to identify specific problems in such hotspots and get them fixed, starting in Central/Southeast Seattle. This document lists other points of the “Community Safety Strategy” he outlined, such as directing new Seattle Police Chief Kathleen O’Toole “to deliver a Community Safety Plan for every neighborhood.”

ltfd June 25, 2014 (7:16 pm)

Good job, Mayor. That will certainly stop the gang members from shooting at each other and trying to claim territory for “business” purposes.

sittingbird June 25, 2014 (7:53 pm)

I’m not worried about gang members, Its the mental folks who posses guns that I’m very worried about. There’s your problem.

buckwheat June 25, 2014 (8:00 pm)

Well, how does the mayor going to accomplish this since he supports the neutering of SPD? The mayor should hang out at 3rd/Pine corridor where he can meet some of the finest citizens in Seattle. Furthermore, maybe the mayor should hang out on Alki on a nice summer day and again see some of the finest citizens in Seattle.