SEATTLE — One of Seattle’s most popular music festivals, Capitol Hill Block Party, kicks off Friday. Security is top of mind for event organizers and the Seattle Police Department (SPD).
Officers responded to calls of street racers taking over the intersection of Broadway and Pike after last year’s Saturday shows wrapped up.
Officers said they needed more resources to safely break up the crowd and eventually had to back away. The masses eventually dispersed, but about two hours later gunfire broke out and Essence Greene-Madden was struck by a stray bullet. The 20-year-old passed away three days later.
Capitol Hill Block Party organizers said they, "have taken additional steps to address concerns proactively.”
That includes working closer with SPD, adding more of their own personnel during and after the event, and volunteers monitoring wellness and safety issues.
"We'll have those resources well into the night until we determine everyone has gotten safely home," SPD Officer Eric Munoz said.
This year tickets to the block party were hard to come by.
"I don't think Capitol Hill Block Party has had this type of draw in a while," attendee Chloe Sarmiento said.
The draw is rising music sensation Chappell Roan. She isn’t even the headliner Friday night but has risen to stardom in the last several months.
So popular, that Roan had to be moved to the biggest stage at the music festival Bonnaroo in June.
“And I would say Capitol Hill’s biggest stage is comparable to Bonnaroo’s smallest stage," Sarmiento said.
So, excited fans like Sarmiento do have some concerns.
"I'm a little worried about people getting smushed just especially because there's been a lot of incidents like that in the past at other concerts," Sarmiento said.
Around 30,000 tickets sold for the weekend require lots of safety planning. SPD said it will have enhanced patrols this weekend. It will be led by their community response group made up of officers and sergeants trained for crowd management.
"Right now, we're emphasizing rapid response to provide a very quick response in the event that demonstrations or events get out of control," Munoz said.
Sarmiento said some of her friends bought two-day tickets just to go the event on Friday.
"Everyone I’ve talked to says they're kind of nervous and have no idea how it's going to play out, but they're hoping for the best," Sarmiento said.
Single-day tickets for Friday are sold out.