How many cops does Seattle need? Murray, McGinn far apart
Sep 24, 2013, 1:27 PM | Updated: 2:52 pm
While Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn is proposing 15 new police officers in his 2014 budget, candidate Sen. Ed Murray says he wants to hire 100 new officers to combat crime in the city.
“We’re increasing our population and as the city continues increasing in population, you need more police. And phasing in over four years seems to be a reasonable approach to dealing with the growing population,” Murray tells KIRO Radio.
The 15 new officers proposed by McGinn would be on top of the 27 additional added after the downtown shooting of a Metro bus driver in August and a fatal stabbing in Pioneer Square earlier this month.
Murray’s call for nearly 60 more officers is a stark contrast to McGinn, who said gathering more officers is not the solution and suggested there is not as big a crime problem in downtown as perceived.
The Seattle Times reported in August a study of four downtown police beats around Westlake Park showed the level of violent crime in the retail center has held steady over the past five years.
The number of officers dropped from 1,300 in the first quarter of 2011 to 1,233 in the second quarter of 2013, after a hiring freeze, according to the City Council.
“The fact is, we’re not where we once were in terms of the numbers we once had,” Murray says.
