(Pete Spalding, Asst. Chief Mike Sanford, Chief John Diaz, Mayor McGinn pre-briefing)
Just back from the briefing at Don Armeni about this summer’s Seattle Police Citywide Late Night Public Safety Emphasis patrols. While the patrols will target what the announcement one-sheet refers to as “Designated Night Life Zones,” that doesn’t just mean places where you’ll find nightclubs: The two areas singled out in West Seattle are Alki and High Point (specifically, 35th/Graham and a one-block radius in all directions).
The new patrols – which Mayor McGinn and Police Chief Diaz repeatedly stressed will be taken from “on-duty resources,” not overtime or special call-ins – will start this Friday night, and continue Friday and Saturday nights through the summer, until a not-yet-determined date in September. Those on-duty resources, up to about 25 citywide on any given night, will come mostly from the Anti-Crime Teams, SWAT, and DUI officers who are on duty. They will not necessarily be in all the areas on the citywide “emphasis zone” map on each of those nights – if it’s raining, Assistant Chief Mike Sanford quipped, you won’t see them on Alki. And conversely, they might be deployed to areas not among the “emphasis zones,” if trouble seems to be brewing, Sanford said.
Pete Spalding of Pigeon Point has long been on the Southwest Precinct Citizens Advisory Council, and that was his reason for joining McGinn, Diaz, and Sanford in the brief speeches/Q-A event at a portable podium, set up at one of the lookout spots at Don Armeni’s north half, while numerous other SPD reps – including two Southwest Precinct Community Police Team reps on bicycles – looked on. “Extra officers patroling our neighborhoods is a good thing,” Spalding declared. (In the photo above, that’s the West Seattle section of the “emphasis zones” map – with Alki and High Point in red; full map added after the jump below.)
We asked Sanford why High Point, when it doesn’t have any conventional “nightlife.” He explained they are focusing on areas where “people are out,” not just places with nightlife-related businesses.
The point, Diaz said, was to meet one of his goals – to reduce fear of crime. While crime is down overall, he says, fear is up, and he believes seeing more officers on patrol can combat that.
(4:57 pm) The mayor’s office just sent the official news release – the text is after the jump (also, 5:57 pm, added our video of the entire briefing above, and the citywide map):
Today, Mayor Mike McGinn, Police Chief John Diaz, Assistant Chief Mike Sanford and Southwest Precinct Advisory Council Chair Pete Spalding were at West Seattle’s Don Armeni Park to announce the return of the Citywide Late Night Public Safety Emphasis. The emphasis calls for the redeployment of on-duty Seattle Police officers throughout the city to promote uniformed police visibility in areas with high concentrations of people enjoying Friday and Saturday nightlife opportunities.
This emphasis fits within the goals set forth with the Seattle Nightlife Initiative, which include increasing public safety, growing the local economy and improving urban vibrancy. People travel from all over Puget Sound to Seattle to visit restaurants, theaters, shopping centers and nightclubs. They bring with them their entertainment dollars keeping our local businesses strong and providing valuable tax dollars to fund important city programs that serve all Seattle residents.
The Late Night Public Safety Emphasis is simply a recalibration of priorities that puts more uniformed officers on the streets without sacrificing any existing missions within the police department. Police personnel assigned to the program will be taken from other non-uniformed on-duty resources – specifically Anti-Crime Teams, Traffic and SWAT. The end result is more uniformed officers on the streets deterring crime and promoting public safety in areas with high concentrations of people enjoying Friday and Saturday nightlife opportunities. It is flexible and scalable for every neighborhood in the city.
On any given Friday or Saturday night, the additional 15-25 uniformed officers will be patrolling designated nightlife zones, usually in two different precincts at any given time. During the course of the summer, each precinct will get a fair share of these resources. Having additional patrols in areas where people gather makes sense. People feel safer when they see uniformed officers on patrol.
Mayor McGinn says, “I’ve visited many Seattle neighborhoods since becoming mayor and if there is one thing that is universal regardless of where they live, people want to feel safe in their communities. I’ve heard from the folks that run our restaurants and entertainment venues that keeping Seattle a diverse, vibrant and safe nightlife destination is beneficial to everyone – citizens, neighborhoods and businesses. So we’re taking action – the Late Night Public Safety Emphasis is a cost effective, smart way to achieve both of these goals.”
Chief Diaz says, “This is about redeploying existing assets so that the right people
are in the right place at the right time. This will be done without sacrificing any
existing missions within the police department. This is the type of effort needed
when the city has fewer dollars to spend than in the past.”The emphasis will begin this weekend and run until sometime in September.
| 21 COMMENTS