Public safety Q&A with Teresa Mosqueda and Kenneth Wilson, Seattle City Council candidates, Position 8

Interim boss Adrian Diaz denounced the “relentless pace of violence” this summer. We asked the two candidates for position 8 on the city council in the November 2nd vote about their approaches to public safety. Teresa Mosqueda is the incumbent. Challenger Kenneth Wilson is an engineer. Read the answers from the mayoral candidates here and the answers from the position 9 candidates here.

Q: How would you respond to concerns about slow police response times for violent and property crimes?

Teresa Moscheeda: We all deserve to feel safe and supported in our communities. We can improve both response times and the nature of the response by ensuring that the right personnel are deployed and that we have adequate manpower for all types of emergency and public safety personnel.

A recent report commissioned by Mayor Jenny Durkan of the National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform found that an “alternate non-affidavit response” might be appropriate for up to 49% of Seattle Police Department calls, or approximately 685,000 mail replies, between 2017 and 2019 .

By outsourcing the types of calls highlighted in the NICJR report to a wider range of emergency responders, we can ensure that calls for help are made quickly and effectively.

The Council has already started this work with the establishment of the Community Safety and Communications Center. In this department, many of the non-police responses are immediately heeded. We need to keep growing that department and make sure 911 dispatchers have a menu of options when handling calls.

Kenneth Wilson: I would immediately restore a positive relationship with the Council, demonstrate support for our police force, and return the police budget removed from the Council. Major challenges of staff shortages affect every aspect of policing. When more than 20% of the staff is missing, all levels of staff are affected, so detectives and the office support police are redistributed to support patrols and crime prevention, eliminating property crime investigations and other police activities. A simple analogy is that if you run a small business with a 20% staff shortage but cannot change the hours of operation, the chef and kitchen staff have to work in the dining room. Customers receive poor service, employees are dissatisfied and are deployed in areas they did not want, quality suffers and the system works inefficiently and poorly. 911 needs to prioritize by asking if it’s a weapon and our community is not getting adequate support. All crimes must be responded to and today’s problems are the responsibility of the current Council. The lack of council support for the police force, the curtailment of the police budget and the cancellation of an additional $ 15 million from the available police budget during the “relentless violence” result in a lack of response to violent and property crimes.

Q: In 2012, a city report found that 55% of Seattle crime prevention programs failed to provide conclusive evidence of their effectiveness. What metrics should be used to monitor community alternatives to policing?

Mosheeda: Community alternatives to policing should include community-oriented metrics that reflect local experiences, needs, and priorities. The perception of safety and health at the neighborhood level is shaped by well-being, community, access to healing, and access to food, water, housing, and economic stability. Crime prevention effectiveness should be measured against large indicators of improved social determinants of health: fewer youth with access to a weapon, more access to food, less poverty-related crimes such as theft of food or clothing, more stable community members, more access to vocational and apprenticeship programs, access to healthy, nutritious food and less poverty-related stress.

When we build restorative justice programs, we can create a sense of security that is much deeper than centering punishment. We should both fight crime and prevent crime. All too often, creating barriers to economic stability and social inclusion through negative interactions with the legal system reinforces the roots of crime.

Creating culturally literate and non-invasive alternatives for the community seeking real security means putting their voices first and ensuring that they define public safety. We can build accountability systems that demonstrate progress and achievement without losing sight of the holistic needs of genuine community security.

Wilson: Using an almost 10 year old test report for the current effectiveness of crime prevention is unrealistic. Seattle’s population growth has exploded, and unprecedented council budgets and police staffing restrictions are preventing correlations. Important crime prevention programs such as police patrols and neighborhood help create valuable and measurable reductions in violent and property crime. Chief Diaz stated that the police are tracking real-time crime statistics and data for each neighborhood and are well aware of the hot spots, but are under-staffed to provide the necessary patrols that prevent crime and provide near-instant police responses. The police are already monitoring valuable metrics for the budget, the number of patrol facilities and locations, the number of officers responding and arrests, service calls (emergencies and non-emergencies), reports submitted, real-time / historical statistics on violent crime and property crimes. The Department is sharing this information with the community online through the Crime Dashboard and SeaStat. As accountability for their budget, Community Alternatives must track all of these metrics and compare SPD with the interactions / results of Community Alternatives. However, their activity is simultaneous and not different, which leads to duplication. Community alternatives should instead replace homeless initial responses as an excellent value with no duplicate metrics. (Most are now being deployed by the Seattle Fire Department due to police cuts.)

Q: How would you reduce the number of shootings and gun crimes?

Mosheeda: With my background in public health and my deep commitment to the safety and wellbeing of children, women and families, I understand the importance of gun stewardship. With a holistic approach, with input from communities and gun violence survivors, we can address this unacceptable problem. I will continue to advocate efforts to raise awareness and awareness, promote stricter local gun laws, improve gun data collection and gun stewardship laws, and the immediate introduction of gunfire echo tracking to isolate hotspots from gun violence and fight. We know that through collective investment and policies that should keep guns out of hand, we can reduce gun violence.

I have campaigned for efforts that address the underlying causes of gun violence, including the adoption of a 2020 budget that will make critical investments in social and mental health services. I added a third Health One team of social workers and case managers and prioritized funding for youth violence prevention. I am the leading voice of the Council for Strong, Stable Communities, including investing in education, housing stability, access to decent jobs with living wages, access to behavioral health, mental health and addiction-related services, and reducing chronic stress in our communities, to name a few name little.

Wilson: Gun crimes and shootings in Seattle have increased dramatically in 2020 and will continue in 2021, while minor crimes, misdemeanors and existing laws will not be enforced. The escalation from smaller crimes to serious and violent crime takes place and is shown in the statistics. The major downsizing of the police force caused by the council and the resulting re-prioritization of staff resulted in investigation teams being eliminated as they occupy fundamental positions. This prevents the detection and arrest of productive offenders. The lack of staff and budget prevents valuable patrols in known areas that prevent crime and unfortunately time for social engagement that enables insights and de-escalation. The effectiveness of our police force is also radically diminished, as a 20% loss will early retire many valuable experienced senior officials and some with unique skills / training who can easily find jobs in other more supportive communities. The solution is to: enforce existing laws; elect a council that supports our police and shows their appreciation; Restoring the budget and assisting with training / assisting existing team members to keep staff; create financial and other incentives for the recruitment of new police personnel; The important thing is to rotate teams and individuals to make time for emergencies to prevent burnout; Actively encourage positive engagement through teaming officers and communities.

The Seattle Times editorial staff
Members are the editor of the editorial page Kate Riley, Frank A. Blethen, Luis Carrasco, Alex Fryer, Jennifer Hemmingsen, Mark Higgins, Derrick Nunnally and William K. Blethen (retired).