SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES
Seattle police chief tackling increased gang activity
Aug 25, 2015, 4:34 PM | Updated: Aug 26, 2015, 1:55 pm
Seattle's Chief of Police Kathleen O'Toole addressed the issue of gang violence Tuesday. Looking at the statistics, it's easy to see that gang activity is going up. (AP)
(AP)
Several tourists were waiting to board mass transit when they were jumped in downtown Seattle on Monday night.
The tourists were reportedly burned with cigarettes and one person’s head was injured by a broken bottle.
It’s just one of many examples in a string of problems in downtown, KIRO Radio’s Dori Monson said.
Related: Gang fears prompt Everett school to ban sports attire
Seattle Police Chief Kathleen O’Toole addressed the issue of gang violence on Tuesday. Looking at the statistics, it’s easy to see that gang activity is going up.
This time last year there were 193 shots fired, according to O’Toole. There have been 252 reports of shots fired so far this year. So far, 62 people have been struck by gunfire this year, compared to 55 last year.
Related: Read the SPD’s Gun Violence Intervention report
“We can say, without hesitation, that most violence we’ve seen — shots fired we’ve seen, most of the incidents we’ve seen, homicides we’ve seen — are related to ongoing gang activity,” O’Toole said.
In many of the shootings, the victim eventually becomes the shooter.
“Yesterday’s victim is tomorrow’s shooter,” O’Toole said.
Though number of shootings is up, the amount of people involved is relatively low, she said. Except for the occasion where a bystander is hit, most of the shootings are between rival gangs.
Related: NRA suing Seattle over adoption of gun violence tax
And word is spreading about the problem. Conventions are avoiding downtown because of the known criminal activity, along with public marijuana use and lack of policing, Dori said. Leaders are supposed to identify problems and find the most efficient and effective ways to solve them. But Seattle Mayor Ed Murray, Dori said, is “blinded by ideology” and watching downtown being taken over by drug dealers and gang members.
The city isn’t ignoring the problem, however. O’Toole said along with daily and weekly meetings, the police department is expanding partnerships with other agencies.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, for example, has assigned about eight people to work with the Seattle Police Department. It also recently installed two surveillance cameras on street poles in the city’s Central District, according to The Seattle Times.
The city is also hiring officers at an “accelerated” rate, with the goal to have at least 100 more in the near future, according to O’Toole. City staff will be working with a consultant to determine exactly how many officers the city needs, too.
