![]() ![]() The other component is that the “no snitch”policy is a cancer to our community, and when we see shootings, we need to be able to break that. Because when we couple that with the right kind of outreach, we can move the needle. So I want to see more officers, like Captain John Hayes, who seems to know everyone’s name in the community, and who can walk around and mix it up. ![]() What I wanted to impress upon the officers is that this is the time you build community, and public trust. I recently attended a meeting at Rainier Beach High School, and I watched a couple of officers stand by the hallway and simply watch the crowd for a long period of time, to then only walk out of the school and get right into their car. I also think that our officers need to be better trained to build community trust, and community relations at every opportunity. ![]() We need to flood the streets with these kinds of good folks. Again, we all know that we can’t arrest ourselves out of all the problems we have. I think that as an investment strategy we need to know who these individuals and groups are, and we need to double down on them. They have dealt with the negative messaging that they have received in their lives and now are giving back and can help us improve our communities. I think that there are people who have come from the street life, and have found a way to overcome it. We also have to give our own community leaders the tools to empower themselves. How can it be assured that police officers are viewed as actual partners with the community in fostering a safer South Seattle?īH: The fact of the matter is that we can not have police officers on every corner arresting kids for just standing around being who they are. It gave people the chance to meet our police officers and to let them know that we do care about South Seattle, and that they do have leaders who are developing plans to protect our community.Įmerald: Some people say that the easy remedy to violence in the area is to simply have more police officers around, however, an expanded police presence is a very polarizing issue amongst South Seattle residents. I live by a quote: “You either accept things the way they are, or you accept responsibility for changing them.” So, I think that the meeting was a very good one. That’s a prime example to me of, when people are demanding that others do things, that they feel empowered to do it themselves. We now have an East African person in our Police Academy, which we’re proud of. You need to figure out, how we can reach your community, as we have tried to reach out.” We established an immigrant/refugee commission, specifically for that purpose. An example would be that one East African attendant spoke up and said that: “You know, I don’t see East Africans here and you need to do better outreach to make sure that my community is represented at these kinds of meetings.” I told him that he was right, and that we would do everything possible to do that, but I added: “You need to do the same thing. So my attitude about meetings like that are, number one, I try to make sure that we can talk about everything, including things our own community can do. We’re putting not only resources behind it, but best practices we’ve taken from other cities, as well as some creative ideas about how to protect our community in the South End of Seattle. Why should residents have cause for optimism after this particular meeting?īruce Harrell: First of all we are developing an actionable plan that we should be able to announce this month. Community Meetings, as they relate to violence, are dismissed by many as a “token” response that rarely ever results in any action being taken. Councilman Harrell currently resides in South Seattle.Įmerald: You recently led a community forum on the topic of violence prevention in the South Seattle area. As concerns have recently reemerged over the level of violence in the South Seattle area, the Emerald spoke with Seattle City Councilman Bruce Harrell, who chairs the city’s Public Safety Committee, and who also recently led a community discussion on violence reduction at the Southeast Seattle Senior Center. ![]()
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