‘There was no strategy’: Former city attorney says Seattle doesn’t appear to have concrete plan as violence grips Aurora

Residents in Seattle’s Greenwood neighborhood are holding a march along Aurora Avenue Saturday night, calling for the city to put a stop to the violence that has plagued the area.

Former Seattle City Attorney Ann Davison and Aurora resident Jake joined “The John Curley Show” on KIRO Newsradio to explain why the event is so important.

Jake said his house was shot right next to where his baby was sleeping.

“For me, it’s about urgency and the city actually doing something quickly, so that we can feel safe in our neighborhood, so that my house doesn’t get shot,” he said. “But it’s not just me, it’s all of our neighbors, and so that’s why it’s personal for me.”

Jake said the community has decided to take things into their own hands after what residents describe as a lack of meaningful response from city leadership to address the persistent problem of human trafficking in their neighborhood.

“We recognize that this problem is not just going to go away,” he said. “I think oftentimes our city leadership just hopes and prays that it’s just going to go away, but we’ve lived here for a long time, and we know it’s not just going to go away. So we’re banding together to try to make some changes that can actually help the victims of human trafficking get the pimps off the street and penalize the johns that are filling the pockets of these pimps.”

Davison said she joined the movement in support of Jake and the neighbors.

“If I can provide any suggestions that might be of assistance, I have no personal agenda in it as to whether or not these things are pursued or not,” she said.

One suggestion Davison agreed with is asking Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson to call Washington Governor Bob Ferguson to ask him to request the National Guard while Seattle hosts the World Cup.

“Why do we not have backup while we’re down with officers, and they’re going to be down at World Cup events? Why do we not have additional resources up in the North End while that’s happening?” she asked.

Davison added that deterrence starts with making it clear that laws will be enforced.

“When we get the word on the street that we enforce our law, and we mean business, I think that that is going to encourage those people to stop and to deter, and we need every aspect that we can to deter,” she said.

Davison said she attended the North Precinct Police Advisory Council meeting Wednesday evening and noticed that while a few state lawmakers were in the room, no city elected officials were present. She said the meeting also left residents without concrete answers on how the city plans to address the violence on Aurora.

“There was no strategy, and I did not feel hopeful, and it was kind of frightening to hear a lot of speak, but really no concrete answers,” she said.

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

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