The King County Council will get an update Tuesday on public safety outside the downtown courthouse.
Courthouse staff voiced safety concerns to the council last summer after a series of incidents, including attacks on jurors as they come and go from jury duty.
The threat to public safety around the building came to a head last summer when a man with a pair of scissors charged then-Sheriff John Urquhart and his chief of staff coming back from lunch.
"The sheriff of King County coming back from lunch, attacked. What about the average citizen?" asked county council member Peter Von Reichbauer.
Reichbauer is particularly concerned with jurors who are summoned to serve jury duty every day.
KING 5 obtained a police report on another juror from an attack two months ago. According to the incident report, on February 16th, a woman on "jury duty for King County Superior Court" was outside the building "when an unknown female approached her and began to yell things."
The "victim began running away from the suspect. The suspect chased the victim and threw a punch, which brushed her hair."
Last July, Presiding Judge Laura Inveen and Judge Jim Rogers testified before the county council expressing concerns about safety and hygiene around the perimeter of the courthouse. Since then, the number of attacks continues to climb.
According to Seattle Police Department's incident reports for the 500 block of 3rd Avenue, there have been 380 assaults, 60 threats, and 51 robberies reported in just 9 months.
"We've got City Hall and the King County Courthouse [in this area]. This should be the safest part of King County and it's one of the unsafest streets during the daytime," said Von Reichbauer.
While safety is still a problem, some of the conditions around the courthouse have improved.
SPD seems to have followed through with the promise to keep Prefontaine park clear of homeless tents and sleeping bags. And facilities staff have increased the number of cleanings and pressure washings around the perimeter of the building.
