I feel safer walking in Manhattan than downtown Seattle

Downtown crime is not being ignored by the Seattle Police Department or the city’s leadership. Despite the increasing gang activity, even low-level crime is being addressed to some extent, Sergeant Sean Whitcomb told KIRO Radio’s Dori Monson.

The city’s leadership is failing to tackle crime in downtown, Dori argued. He doesn’t blame the police department, he believes the higher-ups who won’t do anything to further prevent the issues that Dori said are plaguing Seattle’s landscape.

Related: Seattle police chief tackling increased gang activity

“I’m going to respectfully disagree,” Whitcomb responded.

Along with increasing police presence in downtown, Chief of Police Kathleen O’Toole said one of her goals is to increase the “livability” of the area, he said. O’Toole lives and walks around downtown and knows what’s going on, he added.

Though all levels of crime may be targeted by police, there are still plenty of problems. Take the robbery of tourists waiting for transit Monday night as an example. According to the police department, a woman accidentally bumped someone, which resulted in a man getting hit in the head with a broken bottle and burned with a cigarette. The suspects involved also allegedly stole a cellphone.

Dori is convinced that a “failure of leadership” has the department’s hands tied. Police aren’t addressing crime, even smoking marijuana in public, like they should be, he said.

“I feel safer walking in Manhattan than downtown Seattle,” Dori said.

The department takes low-level “street disorder” seriously, Whitcomb said. But that doesn’t mean police are giving everyone tickets.

Can they write tickets for smoking in public? Dori asked.

“Yeah, you can,” Whitcomb responded. “It’s important to set the tone for what expectations are for civil behavior in our city.”