Public Safety

Public safety downtown continues to be a priority for DSA. We believe downtown should be a place where everyone should be safe to work, live, shop or visit. In recent years, we have worked with partners to elevate for public officials and the media the impact that repeat criminal activity has on downtown and our city. Together, we released two reports outlining various failures of the criminal justice system. In the first report, we examined why a relatively small number of ‘prolific offenders’ were cycling through our criminal justice system, negatively impacting neighborhoods across the city. In the second report, we documented how much of Seattle’s crime goes largely unresolved because of case dismissals and filing delays. We remain in regular contact with city officials about public safety, which is critical to downtown’s post-pandemic recovery.

If you have questions, please email info@downtownseattle.org

Public Safety Reports

• System Failure: Report on Prolific Offenders in Seattle’s Criminal Justice System
• System Failure 2: Declines, Delays and Dismissals

Media Coverage

• As council eyes $5.4 million in further police cuts, SPD and mayor warn of dire impact
• City, business leaders call loss of nearly 200 Seattle Police Department officers a crisisAs council eyes $5.4 million in further police cuts, SPD and mayor warn of dire impact
• ‘We’ve had enough’: Seattleites demand ‘bold’ response after deadly shootout
• DSA CEO: Burden of crime prevention has fallen on community retailers
• Watch: KOMO News Town Hall on Downtown Seattle Violence
• Opinion: We must shut down the Third Avenue drug market once and for all
• Rallying business owners, neighbors demand city leaders do more to remove crime
• 200+ frustrated businesses, neighbors sign letter calling for downtown Seattle safety reform