Soundside's listener corner: safety in downtown Seattle

Soundside dedicated the full hour of its show Tuesday to talking about public safety in Seattle, and we asked for thoughts, experiences, and solutions. And you really delivered.

We wanted to highlight more of what you told us about crime and safety in Seattle, and what needs to change.

Suzy in the U District

Prosecuting some of the rampant crime is what needs to change.

Police arresting more people is well and good (although that's not even happening right now) but if the cases aren't prosecuted and criminals put in jail, it does nothing. Actually, it does less than nothing — it's a net negative effect because there's a "I can get away with anything" attitude.

(People need boundaries & criminal boundaries are called Jail.) (I think we have major organized crime in Seattle.)

Aidan in Wallingford

First and foremost we need to reshape the narrative so that the problem is lack of safety. "Crime" is a label that is applied inconsistently and criminalizing some harmful things makes them more harmful, and homeless people are the biggest victims of property crime but they aren't usually thought of that way. Access to housing makes you both less likely to be a victim and perpetrator of many crimes.

They say more affordable housing and permanent supportive housing, more unionization, taking climate change seriously, boycott Amazon. And lastly they say we need to more directly engage and scale with the #LandBack movement and reparations since these are among the crimes our society was built on.

Steph in Greenwood

First, we need to accept that there's no fast, easy answer. It took 4 decades of gutting our social support systems to get us here and it's going to take hard work and money to reverse. More police won't help if we don't also have treatment facilities to help people with addiction, supportive housing for people with mental illness, and good education, jobs, and housing as a viable alternative to crime.

JD in Queen Anne

I think there needs to be transparency around statistics and trends. I don't trust the police to be a neutral reporting party. What crime? How is it categorized? Who does the crime affect? I assume we aren't talking about wage theft? Rental discrimination? Dogs in parks? What are the long term trends? Is there any evidence that policing reduces crime? I think "increased crime" may just be a right wing talking point that is a poor attempt at supporting their argument that a lack of punishments is the root cause of crime and disorder.

Cynthia in Green Lake

We need to all work together. Neighbors & the city, county & state to provide excellent services to people with mental illness, especially those with mental illness & substance use disorder.

Encourage neighborhood block watches & bring back & expand community officers in the precinct & on the street.

More taxes, perhaps a state income tax, more taxes on the wealthy & large corporations.

Working together with neighbors in community is the way we create lasting change.

Help us make the show!

We hope you'll join the conversation and be part of our next listener corner. Join our listener network by texting SOUND to 206-926-9955.