Community advocates are calling for a multi-agency task force to tackle crime and open drug use in Seattle’s International District.
They hope the task force will build on the momentum of the new activation team. In the first two months of this year, there’s been a 51% increase in felony arrests and 34% decrease in priority 1 calls.
“We want this neighborhood to go back to a thriving area where people can walk freely and feel safe,” former city councilwoman Tanya Woo said during a news conference, reported KING-TV. “We don’t want to worry about being stabbed or hurt, and we shouldn’t have to worry about our elders or children either.”
Two mass stabbings in the area late last year left ten people injured within two days on November 7 and 8. Then in December, a passenger fatally stabbed a bus driver, Shawn Yim.
Recently SWAT officers began patrolling the area to support the activation team, according to KOMO. The goal has been to clean up the neighborhood of drug use.
Some, however, are skeptical more security patrols will have a long-term impact.
“We’ve seen more police presence recently, but once they leave, things just return to how they were,” said market owner Phu Truong.
“We need resources to help support or in house to support those who are undergoing drug addiction,” added Woo.
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