Seattle Police Chief: Crime down 20%, but ‘peaks and valleys’ remain after recent shootings shock city
Feb 4, 2026, 12:28 PM | Updated: 5:00 pm
In an announcement following Seattle Police Chief Shon Barnes‘ first year as the city’s top cop, he shared that crime had fallen nearly 20% in 2025 within Seattle, with significant declines in homicides, shootings, burglaries, and vehicle thefts. Additionally, officers recovered more than 1,500 firearms last year, a 70% increase over the previous year.
But, despite the substantial progress in crime reduction across the city, tragedy still plagues Seattle. Barnes’ announcement came just days after three young people were fatally shot in the city within a 48-hour span. Two teenagers were shot and killed at a bus stop in the Rainier Valley, while another young individual was killed in a shootout in the famous “Sinking Ship” parking garage in Pioneer Square.
No arrests have been made in any of the cases.
“The road to public safety is not a straight line,” Barnes said during an interview Wednesday on “The Gee and Ursula Show.” “There’s always going to be peaks and valleys.”
Barnes, who reached one year of service as Seattle’s chief of police on Feb. 1, said the department’s homicide clearance rate reached 86% in 2025, well above the national average of 61%.
“We have very good detectives,” he said. “Those cases are progressing very well.”
The chief urged anyone with information about the recent fatal shootings to contact police or submit an anonymous tip through Crime Stoppers.
“Often that’s the needle that points us in the right direction,” Barnes said.
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Barnes said 206 firearms were stolen from vehicles last year, calling it “a recipe for disaster.”
“It represents an opportunity to have a gun in the hand of some young person or some person with ill intent,” he said, urging gun owners to secure their weapons.
Chief Barnes also reiterated his support for returning police officers to Seattle Public Schools (SPS) as school resource officers (SRO). Officers were previously removed from SPS campuses in 2020. A former teacher and SRO, Barnes said his own campus officer inspired him to enter law enforcement when he was a student.
He also cited his experience navigating a school shooting in Madison, Wisconsin, where he previously served as chief.
“If I can do anything within the very little and limited power that I have to add protection to our children, I want to be a part of that,” Barnes said.
He said he is open to different models for the program.
“I think we have enough smart people in the city to figure that out,” he said.
Watch the full discussion in the video above.
Listen to Gee and Ursula on “The Gee and Ursula Show” weekday mornings from 9 am to 12 pm on KIRO Newsradio.
