Support Seattle mayor’s anti-crime proposal, including gunshot detection system

With the final election lower than three weeks away, crime stays a high subject for Seattleites. With that, Mayor Bruce Harrell has requested the Seattle Metropolis Council to fund a $1.8 million crime prevention pilot program in its 2024 finances.

This system would fund closed-circuit tv surveillance at out of doors public areas in sure areas, acoustic gunshot-locator expertise and the enlargement of automated license plate readers to detect stolen automobiles.

The $1.8 million would come from funds that might usually go towards salaries for law enforcement officials however are projected to go unused subsequent yr as a result of ongoing officer shortages. 

Upon the completion of a racial fairness evaluation, on condition that the mayor’s workplace anticipates it will discover no such biases, Metropolis Council members ought to hearken to their constituents’ pleas for motion and assist Harrell’s anti-crime proposal. 

As murder numbers proceed to tick up in Seattle, and because the variety of law enforcement officials continues to drop, these instruments will assist police examine incidents of gun violence which have wreaked havoc on households and neighborhoods.

Homicides in Seattle are already on monitor to outpace final yr’s slayings. There have been 61 homicides to date this yr and 163 nonfatal shootings. The Seattle Police Division’s clearance charge of murder investigations was 44.5% in 2022.  

Typically 911 dispatchers obtain “photographs fired’’ calls from residents however with out particular places. The gunshot detection system, at present utilized in different main cities, would assist law enforcement officials pinpoint, inside a number of toes, the place a gun was fired, even when nobody known as 911. It may additionally get officers to scenes shortly if no 911 name is acquired, doubtlessly saving lives. 

The license plate readers could be used to deal with the rise in stolen automobiles in Seattle. Already this yr, car thefts are up 36% from 2022. Police have cited a hyperlink between such thefts and gun violence and robberies.

Using cameras in public areas is one other device that deserves an opportunity to assist struggle crime. Whether or not it’s an assault at a bus cease or the marring of public areas with graffiti, the digital surveillance — already utilized in dozens of Washington cities and elsewhere — would assist monitor high-crime areas and deter legal exercise. 

Some declare using cameras violates a person’s proper to privateness. However within the age of dwelling and enterprise safety techniques that seize photos of motorists and pedestrians, surveillance cameras in parking heaps, banks and workplaces, site visitors cameras at intersections and the widespread use of cellphones to document photos, a presumption of privateness in public areas is a fallacy.  

Although funds for the pilot would come from SPD’s finances, the town should intensify its recruitment of excellent police officer candidates who’re certified and worthy of serving Seattleites.

No matter instruments the town decides to deploy, the outcomes of their effectiveness must be made public. The mayor’s workplace informed The Occasions editorial board {that a} mechanism for evaluating the CCTV and license plate readers could be developed by the town’s Innovation and Efficiency group. 

Know-how shouldn’t be the reply to lowering crime, however could be a great tool when used collaboratively with sound policing methods and transparency.