Over the next four weeks, the Seattle City Council will deliberate and finalize the mid-year biennial budget, which includes a $1.7 million proposed investment for a new crime prevention technology pilot program for the Seattle Police Department (SPD).
This added capacity to deter crime and collect evidence is needed now more than ever. According to SeaStat, the city’s crime database, there have been 3,975 violent crimes and nearly 30,000 property crimes reported thus far in 2023. The police staffing crisis, now in its third year, has resulted in only 937 police officers available for deployment as of Aug. 31, 2023, the lowest number of in-service officers since 1991 and significantly below per-capita staffing relative to comparable jurisdictions. It’s clear that the status quo, soft-on-crime approach, has not been effective. Now, criminal activity, such as stolen cars, gun violence,e, and persistent felonies have become anchored in certain areas of our community, and we must make extraordinary efforts to overcome this challenge.
Mayor Bruce Harrell’s budget proposal packages together three technology tools that would be piloted in high-crime areas, using officer salary savings to cover the cost. SPD has been using automated license plate readers for several years now on a very limited fleet of vehicles and the new pilot would expand that technology to include the entire fleet. Research on Gunshot Detection Technology (GDT) is mixed at best if used alone. However, the proposed pilot would pair GDT with closed circuit television (CCTV), which research shows increases the efficacy significantly. A meta-analysis conducted in 2019 of metropolitan cities in the U.S. that use these technologies together, along with other crime deterrents such as increased outdoor lighting and patrols (the way it would be deployed in Seattle), found the technologies even more effective.
In addition to the normal budget process, technologies used to conduct surveillance within the City of Seattle must go through an additional process to ensure it doesn’t infringe upon rights or cause harm to any individuals or community members. In 2018, the city council passed the Surveillance Ordinance, which standardized a thorough process, including community engagement, that the city must go through before implementing any new surveillance technology.
The revitalization of our downtown core, transit systems, small business economy, and the increase in the overall quality of life that makes our region a great place to work and live all depend upon the safety of our streets, buses, and trains. New data from the October 2023 installment of our research poll, The Index, shows concerns about public safety are rising (10 points higher today than last spring). At a time when 60% of Seattleites feel less safe than they did 2 years ago, we are encouraging city leaders to take an all-of-the-above approach to our public safety crisis and prioritize their budget based on the issues voters are most concerned about. Economic recovery and public safety go hand-in-hand, and the business community supports an approach to both that is equitable, efficient, and effective.
Please join us in advocacy to ensure council votes to include the mayor’s public safety package in the final 2024 budget, targeting a public hearing scheduled for Nov. 13. Let’s work together to ensure the 2024 budget reflects our shared priorities with the voters. We’ve created talking points and an easy template you can fill out and send to council@seattle.gov (all council members).
Please contact Director of Policy Sarah Clark (sarahc@www.seattlechamber.com) or Policy Specialist Lilly Hayward (lillyh@www.seattlechamber.com) if you have any questions or need assistance.