SEATTLE — Seattle has seen a deadly summer, with incidents like the Bite of Seattle shooting and a violent Labor Day weekend that saw three shootings within 24 hours.
Now, Mayor Katie Wilson has released her plan to curb gun violence.
It is a four-and-a-half-page plan that "brings together community violence intervention, emergency response, social services, law enforcement resources, and regional partnerships."
Among the components are plans to create faster response times for shootings and increase patrols in "impacted communities."
Mayor Wilson would like the Seattle Police Department (SPD) to expand bicycle patrols in Belltown, north Aurora Ave N, Little Saigon, and Rainer Beach, while aligning the Narcotics Unit operations with the Community Response Group and Gun Violence Reduction Unit to target drug dealers and those selling illegal guns. The mayor's plan says this also takes first steps toward a "focused deterrence approach."
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The mayor is also looking to invest millions of dollars in these efforts, including $5 million to bolster the city's 911 emergency response times, which will be a transfer of already available funds. Wilson's budget also looks to increase expanded community crisis response working hours from 10 to more than 18 hours each day.
Wilson also wants to spend more than $600,000 to pilot a new afterschool program for students at Rainier Beach High School. In her proposed 2027-2028 budget, she wants to fund two staff members to support the afterschool program, increase funding for contracts with community-based organizations that offer services to teens, and provide staffing and training to Seattle Parks and Recreation staff who work with teens.
The focus on youth expands beyond Rainier Beach High School; her proposal also looks to create free late-night programs for teens at the High Point Community Center, and increase mental health resources for ages 13-24.
Mayor Wilson's Gun Violence PlanPDF preview
The four-and-a-half-page plan "brings together community violence intervention, emergency response, social services, law enforcement resources, and regional partnerships."
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Wilson is also looking to partner with both the University of Washington and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
With UW, Wilson would like to map existing gun violence prevention and intervention programs, their data, establish a baseline of what is working, and identify the most harmed by gun violence. Wilson's proposal said "the effort will identify where gaps and opportunities exist and provide a solid foundation for evaluating strategies and building Seattle-specific models tailored to our city's needs."
The partnership with Johns Hopkins will focus on creating a Violence Reduction Council, with a focus on creating a "structured citywide process for examining homicides and understanding how different systems could have intervened sooner."
Wilson also wants to work with the state legislature to advance gun violence prevention legislation, including regulation of firearms "in sensitive spaces," regulation of firearms at Seattle Center, and an update to juvenile firearm possession and sentencing laws.
Many of these proposals, especially the budget items, will also need the stamp of approval from Seattle City Council; the council is voting on its own gun violence reduction plan Tuesday afternoon as well.