Irresponsible, inexcusable to keep ‘the Jungle’ open

For a second time, city and state officials toured ‘The Jungle’ homeless encampment to get a better assessment of the conditions at the site of a mass shooting and murder of two victims, all over a heroin drug debt. What they didn’t do was sweep the encampment; this is irresponsible and inexcusable.

“Shutting it down has not been a part of any of our conversations,” said Seattle Fire Chief Harold Scoggins to Q13. “We’re just doing an assessment to see if we’re going into this area, how do we access this area safely.”

“If” you’re going into this area? You must. The Jungle has a history of violence, well beyond the recent shooting. In 2009, there were two murders here. Last year, a man’s body was set on fire. Mayor Ed Murray says the area isn’t manageable. Every day it stays open, not only do you increase the risk of another murder of someone living on the streets, but also of a passer-by coming to visit one of the nearby businesses.

And how do you do this safely? You go in early, in daylight, with a large police presence and cadre of resource officers who can help out the homeless residents who actually want help.

Related: Here’s who is to blame for ‘Jungle’ shooting

Then, you demand the state put up a fence, with barbed wire, to keep people out. When they return, you kick them out again. This is not your standard tent city where people are just trying to get by. This is where you go to buy and use drugs. The state unwilling to step in, since it sits on their property? Hold a press conference every day telling the public who is getting in the way and we’ll bring pressure on the state to step up.

So what’s the hold up? Politics, I imagine.

This is seen as a social justice fight with angry Twitter activists screaming at anyone who feels uncomfortable at the notion that they’re living next to a community with rampant drug use and violence. They’ll call you NIMBYs (‘not in my backyard’) from the comfort of their secure-entry condo on Capitol Hill where they don’t have to deal with this kind of violence coming from a small subsection of the homeless community.

To his credit, Mayor Murray has tried to conduct sweeps of illegal encampments, but some city officials and the regular Twitter trolls will call him inhumane. While I understand the hard spot the Mayor is in, he needs to ignore these critics who aren’t all well-intentioned.

Some use this issue to check off a box to tell the world how Progressive they are. They’ll arrogantly condemn any movement because they think they know how to address the problem, silencing any opposition along the way with their online bullying. But as they shut people up, some who may have solutions or ideas to fix the emergency, homelessness has gotten worse. These critics apparently think it’s humane for homeless folks and addicts to live in tents in cold weather, with easy and quick access to drugs. We don’t and we’re starting to speak up, which is why the activist bullying has gotten louder.

For the sake of safety – both of the neighborhood and the residents of the Jungle – it’s time to shut this site down.