Aurora Avenue businesses accuse Seattle leaders of turning blind eye to crime

Dozens of businesses along Aurora Avenue say the city is ignoring them when it comes to crime, and they’re calling on Seattle Mayor Ed Murray and the City Council to put their money where their mouths are to get more cops on the streets.

Longtime property owner Fay Garneau, the executive director of the Aurora Avenue Merchants Association, says crime is worse on the stretch from Greenlake to Shoreline than it’s been in years.

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“You should not have to worry about being safe in your home, or on your streets, or in your neighborhood. You should not have to,” Garneau said.

There seems to be good cause for concern. The latest statistics from the Seattle Police Department show a 64 percent increase in robberies and a nine percent increase in assaults this year compared to last, across the north precinct – which covers the entire city north of the Ship Canal.

The Merchants Association has sent a strongly worded letter to Murray, accusing the city of diverting cops to downtown and other hot spots at the expense of the north end.

“We contribute a great deal to the tax base of the city and I don’t think it’s too much to ask if we can have a visible police force,” Garneau said.

While Garneau argues the city doesn’t care about the north end, the Mayor’s Office and police department say they’re well aware of the problems, and they’re working diligently to fix them.

Detective Patrick Michaud says once police identified a crime trend with their recently implemented Seastat database, they moved quickly.

“Since then, we’ve dedicated several teams of detectives to put an emphasis out there aimed at resolving many of the same issues identified by the Aurora Avenue Merchants Association,” Michaud said.

Michaud points out property crimes &#8212 including burglary, car prowls, and thefts &#8212 are down 14 percent year over year, thanks to the new efforts, and other crimes are expected to drop as well.

The Mayor’s Office says, along with increased attention, more cops are coming.

The mayor has proposed 100 new officers by the end of his term and has included funding for more officers in his last budget.

But Garnaud remains dubious.

“Every time a mayor has suggested that we need 50 or 100 more officers, they always get cut down to 10. Well 10 isn’t going to do the trick,” she said.

But the police department reports it’s already hired 33 new officers since Murray took office. Forty-one student officers are undergoing field training, while another 27 recruits are enrolled in the state academy.

Despite Garneau’s complaints, Michaud says 30 percent of SPD’s officers are currently deployed in the north precinct.

While there’s some dispute, one thing is clear. Garneau’s group has definitely received the attention of City Hall.

“We’re really proud of our street. You’ll see that our telephone poles are free of graffiti and all those posters and everything. We keep the street very clean and we’re very concerned with what goes on on our street,” Garneau said.