SEATTLE — Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell signed an executive order Friday establishing a downtown activation team pilot aimed at reducing crime and emergency calls.
The pilot comes after the city began operations in the downtown core in early September. Officials said the results were positive, prompting them to expand operations to the Little Saigon neighborhood earlier this month.
In the Pike/Pine area near Third Avenue, violent crime decreased 27%, and emergency service calls decreased 14% since efforts began, according to data from the mayor’s office.
“We are excited to continue expanding this work to more neighborhoods,” Harrell said in a statement. “By working together, we can achieve the goal of everyone in every neighborhood being safe and feeling secure."
The team brings together service providers from across the city and coordinates safety operations downtown and in the Chinatown-International District and Little Saigon neighborhoods. It conducts targeted enforcement of “dangerous and disruptive behavior” and cleans and restores areas of concern.
Since September, the activation team completed nearly 200 restoration actions and over 100 graffiti abatements downtown, according to the city.
The team may be expanded to other neighborhoods beyond downtown and the CID based on need and resources, according to the order.
Harrell is expected to submit two pieces of legislation to the city council to support the pilot program, focused on deterring retail theft and stolen goods being sold in public spaces as well as maintenance operations.
The pilot program comes a year after Harrell announced his Downtown Activation Plan to make the city safer. In August, the city gave an update on the plan calling it a “roaring success.” Forty-three of its 46 initiatives were completed or in progress as of the briefing.
