Residents on Seattle’s Capitol Hill perceive safety problem
Nov 19, 2013, 8:20 AM | Updated: 10:28 am
There are more people living on Capitol Hill and more restaurants and nightclubs. The neighborhood is drawing more people than ever before and there's a feeling that Capitol Hill is turning into the Belltown of 10 years ago. (AP Photo/File)
(AP Photo/File)
Violent crime in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood is not on the rise, but many people who live there think that it is.
Residents on Capitol Hill say they see more drug deals and suspicious behavior than they ever have before. It’s likely a by-product of a growing neighborhood. There are more people living on Capitol Hill and more restaurants and nightclubs. The neighborhood is drawing more people than ever before.
The neighborhood is also the center of Seattle’s gay community, and there’s a perception that there are more hate-related crimes, which recent statistics show aren’t on the rise.
Residents, however, believe the neighborhood is getting less safe, and they tell KING 5 they want the city to do something.
“This used to be the cleanest city, practically, in the country,” one woman said. “Now this city is dirty and you can tell we don’t have the services. We’re not taking care of the infrastructure, and we’re not taking care of people.”
A check of the Seattle Police stats shows violent crime in the city is down five percent this year. The precincts and beats that cover Capitol Hill have also seen a decrease in violent crime.
Comparing the latest stats from the SPD beats that cover Capitol Hill and downtown Seattle shows Capitol Hill accounted for 10 percent of the assaults in August and nine percent of the robberies. Downtown accounted for 17 percent of assaults and 18 percent of robberies.
So downtown appears to still have more crime than Capitol Hill, but stats don’t make people feel safe.
“This is our neighborhood,” one barista said. “We got to protect ourselves.”
Seattle City Council member Bruce Harrell said there’s a feeling that Capitol Hill is turning into the Belltown of 10 years ago, a neighborhood racked by crime. He said the city is trying to keep that from happening.
“This is crazy stuff so we’re going to make sure that we’re out in front of it, giving resources, giving training and that’s what we’re going to do,” said Harrell.
The Seattle City Council is now asking the Seattle Police Department for quarterly reports on crime on Capitol Hill.
