Crime: Coming to a Seattle Neighborhood Near You

A week ago, Bruce Harrell closed three city parks, due to “negative” activity. Based on online commentary, it looks like these were sweeps of homeless encampments. I saw some people online celebrating this—I assume the well-meaning among them were hoping these parks would be restored to a more comfortable place for the public to use without thinking through the implications.

Shortly before I read the piece, my wife and I had noticed that there was a sudden, sharp uptick in tents in our neighborhood, specifically in and around Ravenna/Cowen Park.

After reading the Times article, I made this comment online:

Now, just a few days later, a 17-year-old was shot in our neighborhood:

The bullet wound was in the boy’s leg. He is in stable condition–thank God. 

My kids play in that park all the time. It was a lovely, warm evening and I had walked through that exact concert shortly before the shooting, on my way to pick up a few groceries. The whole thing was both literally and metaphorically way too close to home.

Look, I don’t want to fearmonger. The folks camping in our parks are largely victims. We have zero reason to believe that the perpetrators were campers or homeless. (In fact, homeless folks are much more likely to be victimized by violent crime than to commit it).

But it is also true that encampments tend to attract criminal activity–as campers are much easier targets. Sweeping groups around town merely moves that criminal activity, and does nothing to solve it. 

Harrell has wasted tons of resources, produced worse outcomes

Two years ago, when I ran for office, I argued that this approach was a waste of resources, especially when our own county and state were using a housing-first encampment resolution approach that works much, much better to actually get people off the streets. 

But we’ve had a mayor who has wasted half our shelter budget on this idiotic, famously ineffective approach, when we could have gotten roofs over thousands of people’s heads. 

The result? We have fewer shelter beds than when Harrell became Mayor, and big increases in homelessness. And now a kid was shot in my neighborhood. It’s a wealthy neighborhood, so undoubtedly local activism will mean the crime gets pushed out at some point, and someone somewhere else will suffer. As always, neighborhoods with less money will suffer most.

I’m so grateful that Katie Wilson, who is running to replace Bruce Harrell for Mayor, and who won the primary, actually has an evidence-based plan for reducing crime and the willingness to raise tax the richest among us to fund it. Harrell sure as heck doesn’t. He has shown us with fifteen years in office, including three as Mayor, that he is not remotely up to the challenge.