New gun violence reduction strategy moves forward at Seattle City Hall

The Seattle City Council’s Public Safety Committee voted Tuesday to advance a new gun violence reduction strategy, two days after three people were killed in three separate shootings across the Belltown neighborhood.

The resolution, sponsored by Councilmember Maritza Rivera, passed 3-0 with Councilmember Eddie Lin abstaining. It calls for a two-year, $418,000 partnership with the National Network for Safe Communities, a group Rivera said has helped cities including Boston, Baltimore and Philadelphia reduce gun violence by up to 60%.

“I cannot sit here and watch what is happening to our city and knowing there is a strategy out there that we could be trying here and not doing it,” Rivera said.

The measure now heads to the full council next week.

Rivera acknowledged that Mayor Katie Wilson’s office has not committed to the approach, calling it “unfortunate.” Wilson released a statement Tuesday calling the weekend’s violence “tragic and unacceptable” and said her office would announce its own gun violence prevention strategy in the coming days.

“My office will be announcing additional staffing to support our gun violence prevention work, and pushing our state legislature to pass policies that keep guns off our streets,” Wilson’s statement said.

Council vows to move forward on gun violence strategy with or without mayor’s support

Committee Chair Bob Kettle said the council would press forward with or without the mayor’s support.

“Sometimes we need a little shock to the system, and having an outside voice and look, angle is important,” Kettle said. “This is important to the city, and this is what the city expects.”

Vice Chair Rob Saka urged Wilson to include funding for the partnership in her upcoming budget proposal.

“The very definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and expecting different results,” Saka said. “We need to try something different here when it comes to gun violence.”

The resolution is nonbinding but signals the council’s intent to pursue the focused deterrence model, which targets the small number of individuals responsible for the majority of shootings in a given city.

As of Tuesday afternoon, no arrests had been made in any of the weekend shootings.

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