“The core change is integration,” Wilson said. “This is really about better integrating the systems that we have.”
Mayor Katie Wilson says her new gun violence reduction plan is centered on one key change: better coordination among city departments, police and community-based violence intervention groups.
In an interview with KOMO News on Tuesday, Wilson said the city will designate Seattle’s CARE Department as the command center for gun violence reduction, bringing community violence intervention providers under its umbrella and improving the way they work with police and other city services.
“The core change is integration,” Wilson said. “This is really about better integrating the systems that we have.”
The plan comes after a violent summer in Seattle, including the deadly shooting at the Bite of Seattle and three shootings within 24 hours over Labor Day weekend.
KOMO News previously reported the proposal includes $5 million in already available funding to improve 911 emergency response times, expanded crisis-response hours and more than $600,000 for a new after-school program at Rainier Beach High School. The plan also calls for free late-night teen programming at High Point Community Center, additional peer-mentorship funding and more mental-health resources for young people.
Wilson said the proposal includes two new CARE Department positions in the next budget: a director of gun violence reduction and a coordinator. Their work would include coordinating the city’s nine contracted community violence intervention providers and tracking results.
At the same time, Seattle police would increase foot and bicycle patrols in areas identified as high-crime neighborhoods. The department also plans to combine its Community Response Group and Gun Violence Reduction Unit in an effort to focus enforcement on the relatively small number of individuals and groups believed to be responsible for much of the city’s violent crime.
Police leaders said the approach must include both accountability and prevention.
“SPD can’t do it alone,” an SPD official said during the interview, describing a strategy that combines enforcement with community-based support intended to give young people alternatives to violence.
Wilson said the plan is not designed to require a major new infusion of money during what is expected to be a difficult city budget cycle. Most of the proposal, she said, involves coordinating existing programs and contracts, with the new staff positions among the limited additions.
The mayor also said her administration supports a focused-deterrence strategy, an approach being discussed separately by the Seattle City Council. Wilson said the city is working with the University of Washington Center for Firearm Injury Prevention to map existing programs and identify gaps, while a partnership with Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions would help establish violence-reduction councils to examine homicides and determine where intervention may have been possible.
Asked how the plan would prevent another shooting like the one at the Bite of Seattle, Wilson said it is intended to improve prevention, response and support for young people at risk of becoming involved in gun violence.
The mayor said she expects results from a city audit of data security, storage and privacy practices by the end of the month. She said that review will inform a decision on whether to expand the use of CCTV cameras, which officials acknowledged can be useful investigative tools.
