In March, Mayor Mike McGinn will nominate members for the Community Police Commission for confirmation by the Seattle City Council.
The 15 nominees are diverse, with experience in racial-disparity issues and police accountability, like former state Rep. Kip Tokuda, former Seattle City Councilmember Tina Podlodowski, and the Revs. Harriet Walden and Aaron Williams. African-, Asian-, Latino- and Native Americans will sit at the table, as will representatives of the Downtown Seattle Association and Downtown Emergency Services Center.
Missing are Seattle’s five precinct advisory councils, neighborhood business associations and other members of the public-safety community.
The Community Police Commission would benefit from considering the Seattle Public Safety Initiative. It was created in 2011 by Community Leaders for Public Safety (CLPS) — CLPS lasted eight months — and summarizes public-safety programs important to Seattle’s neighborhoods.
The one-page, bulleted list I formatted for CLPS contains perspectives of a dozen North and South End citizens with deep knowledge of public-safety efforts in their communities.
However, in CLPS’ sole meeting with McGinn, in May 2011, one member substituted copies of her personal agenda for the initiative. That breach in trust had a cost: CLPS broke up, its collective vision off the table.
Still-valid recommendations
CLPS’ recommendations are still relevant. With the new commission, there is opportunity for Seattle’s neighborhoods to be heard.
The initiative was organized around six topics.
•Facilities — The North Precinct building has a history of water damage, equipment failures and inadequate parking: fix it. Citywide, reexamine substations and drop-in centers, as they could help build community, now a goal of Mayor McGinn’s and Police Chief John Diaz’s “20/20” police plan.
•Community Policing — Emphasize community engagement in training and practice, so officers understand people and place. The Mayor’s Office employs Neighborhood Action Teams, yet meetings should be open, per municipal code. Fund Crime Prevention Coordinator and Park Ranger programs and reexamine using precinct Community Safety Officers.
•Community Programs — This is the initiative’s largest section.
Build on current successful youth programs, with intergenerational community advisory panels. Give kids something to do at playfields, schools and community centers. Seek corporate funding and partnerships to enhance youth programs.
Regarding the mayor’s Seattle Nightlife Initiative, prioritize a socially responsible scene, with clubs funding solutions to problems they create.
To deal with gangs and graffiti, create a citywide strategy to address gang-related crime, including prostitution, and a graffiti plan with an Seattle Police graffiti detective.
Social services should be equitably distributed throughout the city, with support of successful models to house chronic street inebriates.
•CPTED (Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design) — Apply CPTED principles to all Department of Planning and Development-permitted projects and appropriately in natural areas, greenbelts and parks. Work with the Washington State Department of Transportation to apply CPTED to state transportation projects in Seattle.
•Cooperation — Leverage existing assets and interagency taskforces to address specific issues and establish a public-safety adviser in the Mayor’s Office to coordinate interagency projects and policy development.
Fund programs using Washington State Department of Corrections work crews and Seattle Community Court and Pretrial Diversion service workers, as they support street cleanups, environmental restoration, vacant-lot mitigation, playfield safety and graffiti removal.
•Policy — Seattle needs a consistent policy of enforcing the trespassing ordinance, the nuisance-housing ordinance and the encampment protocols. These are emphasized, as politics sometimes overtakes community needs.
Since the initiative was written, there have been developments.
The 2011 revised trespassing ordinance makes it less likely for innocent people to be trespassed from stores, a change advocated by the Seattle Police Department.
The nuisance-housing ordinance was recently enforced at a Georgetown motel; yet, a project on Beacon Hill at a building with a 15-year history of criminality and code violations was abandoned. Enforcement of the ordinance needs public clarity.
Enforcement of the city’s encampment protocols is ill-defined. On one hand, there’s no place for most homeless campers to go; on the other, as camps grow, they can become dangerous for those who live in them and nearby, while trashing the environment. Neighbors — whether in SODO or Magnolia — need clarity on city encampment policy.
The place to start
The SPD “20/20” plan and the Community Police Commission share much in common. They may provide accountability for programs and policies. Yet, accountability is more than a comment period for policy proposals, public notice of meetings or a roundtable discussion.
The 20/20 plan and the new commission will only succeed by addressing the experience of Seattle neighborhoods. The Seattle Public Safety Initiative is where to begin.
CRAIG THOMPSON is a longtime community activist. To comment on this column, write to QAMagNews@nwlink.com.