Don O’Neill: Path to clearing Seattle’s ‘Jungle’ may come down to arrests

As the City of Seattle continues its debate on what to do with the illegal homeless encampment known as “The Jungle,” the mayor’s assistant, Scott Lindsay, shared an idea Wednesday during the Human Services and Public Health Committee meeting.

“Escalating the situation to force a change in a decision is critical to the process of getting better outcomes; getting more people to connect with services,” Lindsay said.

Related: Nearly 400 people living in The Jungle

The idea is that the city needs to try and force people that live in The Jungle to seek the services being offered to them. The problem is, the people living there don’t always want those services, KIRO Radio’s “Ron and Don” point out.

“You can literally throw a stolen bike from The Jungle and hit the services,” Ron Upshaw quipped.

“The beds are empty,” Don O’Neill added. “They don’t want (the services).”

The Jungle quickly gained national attention after a deadly shooting last year. The greenbelt that’s been occupied illegally for years under and around I-5 on the western slope of Beacon Hill became a thorn in Seattle’s side as it highlighted the city’s growing homeless population.

City officials would like to pair officers with outreach workers to engage with people living in the encampment, Lindsay says. That is because law enforcement alone is not a “particularly successful technique.”

The problem remains the same, however. The people living in The Jungle don’t want help; at least not all of them, Don says. It’s just like the city’s RV situation, where you have more people living in RVs than are actually utilizing the “safe sites.”

“How are the people living in The Jungle going to be any different?” Don asked. “These services have been offered for years.”

Don says there should be two options for people in The Jungle: get them out or take them to jail.

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