What to understand about the rise in sexual assaults in Seattle

A recent sexual assault on Seattle’s Capitol Hill has spurred concerns over rideshare services and the potential for predators.

“Sexual assaults are unfortunately nothing new,” said Captain Deanna Nollette who heads the Seattle Police Department’s special victims unit. “It’s just a new avenue we’re seeing with some suspects. It’s a very, very small number of the thousands rides taken across the country every day. But if you have a bad actor, unfortunately, it does give suspects access to potential victims.”

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The number of sexual assaults in Seattle spiked in 2016, and there has been a documented rise in incidents related to rideshare services. But Nollette notes that the numbers can be deceiving — context is needed. Police investigated similar cases with taxis for years before rideshare.

“I think the difference we’ve seen in Seattle is that the driver pool is substantially bigger,” Nollette said. “There are a limited number of cab licenses, there are a limited number of cabs, and therefore there’s always been a limited number of cab drivers. Now with it being opened up with Uber and Lyft, the pool of drivers is much larger.”

“We have seen an increase (in rideshare sexual assaults), but that would be completely expected,” Nollette said. “Five years ago, there was no such thing; there was no such animal as rideshare. Now it’s a huge industry, with a huge number of drivers and a huge number of riders … We did a statistical analysis of all the cases from last year and we did not see (that rideshares) were a significant part of the work we were seeing here at SVU.”

Sexual assaults spike in Seattle

Along with the rise in rideshare related assaults, Seattle police have noticed a general increase in reported rapes. Reported sexual assaults have risen in the past decade; 2016 had the highest number since 2008.

• 2008: 122 reports
• 2009: 114 reports
• 2010: 103 reports
• 2011: 119 reports
• 2012: 158 reports
• 2013: 144 reports
• 2014: 155 reports
• 2015: 139 reports
• 2016: 226 reports
• Year-to-date August 1, 2017: 126 reports (previous year-to-date was 125)

“We’ve taken a hard look at those numbers … what we are looking for is any trend, any patterns, any potential serial cases,” Nollette said. “We are just not seeing any of those factors.”

“When the increases started about mid last year, there was a number of very high profile national cases,” she said. “I think a lot of that was having a public dialogue about what sexual assault is. It might have increased people’s comfort level reporting to law enforcement and it might have stressed the importance of us hearing about these cases.”

“If it’s coming from people reporting crimes that were previously going unreported, then that’s a positive step,” she added.

Rideshare safety advice

There are a few “common sense” actions a person can take while using rideshare services, Nollette said.

“I think back to my teens and the biggest advice I got from my parents and any authority figure was to never ever get into a stranger’s car,” she said. “Now with technology and modern ride shares you call them on your phone to get into their car … We can go back to what my parents told me … but I don’t think that’s realistic with how most people are living these days.”

Instead, Nollette recommends:

• Have a charged phone with you. If something happens, call 911.
• Verify the vehicle plate number, car description and driver before getting into a ride.
• Speak up if you become uncomfortable. Get dropped off and order a new ride.
• Sit in the back seat if you are riding alone. This gives distance and time if anything happens.

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