Focus on Public Safety

Since taking office in 2024, the new City Council has worked collaboratively with the Mayor's Office and prioritized legislation that addresses public safety needs throughout the Seattle community. This important work includes:

2025

• Resolution endorsing holistic approach to public safety, Consent Decree work. In April of 2025 the council approved Resolution 32167, which recognizes Seattle’s strategic public safety work over the last year. Endorsed by Mayor Bruce Harrell, the resolution expresses appreciation for the community’s first responders, recognizes work done to reform the Seattle Police Department (SPD), endorses accountability measures, calls for diversified responses to 911 calls as offered by the new Community Assisted Response & Engagement (CARE) Department, and reverses prior “defund” commitments.
• Updated guidance for crowd management with accountability measures. In February 2025 the Council voted 6-3 to approve final legislation on crowd management guidelines for the Seattle Police Department. The updated guidelines include several amendments intended to provide additional oversight and accountability, including checks on the use of blast balls. The new policies could lead to the end of the federal consent decree which has been in place since 2012.
• New safety regulations for after-hours lounges. CB 120956, passed in April 2025, requires after-hours lounges to be up-to-date on all city and state permits and licenses, to maintain two security guards and have video surveillance, draft a safety plan, and allow entry by police officers during business hours. The new regulations were developed following multiple work sessions with impacted stakeholders. These groups included families and friends of victims of after-hours violence, night life operators, SODO Business Improvement Area and a lounge operator. Over the past decade, there have been dozens of shootings and homicides that have occurred in connection with after-hours nightlife lounges that operate between the hours of 2 a.m. and 5 a.m. 

2024

• Updated police contract supporting recruitment and accountability. In May 2024 the council approved and Mayor Harrell signed a new police contract directly addressing Seattle’s staffing crisis, expanding civilian public safety responses, and strengthening police accountability.
• Expansion of tools to accelerate police hiring. On May 21, 2024 councilmembers unanimously passed legislation addressing roadblocks in the SPD recruitment and hiring process. The bill contains provisions creating a new Recruitment & Retention program in the Seattle Police Department, supports a policy for more flexibility and accessibility for exam-takers (lateral and entry-levels positions), increases candidate contacts, and adding a new Human Resources position to follow up quickly with applicants.
• Expansion of license plate reading technology for police vehicles. In June 2024 the council passed legislation expanding automated license plate reader (ALPR) technology to the entire Seattle Police Department’s fleet. The technology would allow the police to address crimes in progress, investigations, locating stolen vehicles, finding missing persons, searching for wanted persons and canvasing crime scenes.
• Expediting the demolition of vacant, unsafe buildings. Also in June 2024 councilmembers unanimously passed a bill that would allow the Seattle Fire Department (SFD) to swiftly order the demolition or remediation of unsafe vacant buildings that pose risks to public safety.
• New tools to fight illegal street racing. In July 2024 the council approved legislation better defining illegal street racing and giving the city new tools to address it. It creates a new traffic infraction of $500 for registered owners involved in racing and classifies the crime as a reckless driving gross misdemeanor, in-line with state law.
• Diversifying jail options. Passed in August 2024, the pilot program, negotiated by Mayor Bruce Harrell’s team, authorizes Seattle to house 20 additional misdemeanor detainees at SCORE. The legislation is in response to a dramatic reduction in jail spots available to the city through the King County jail. 
• Stay Out of Area Prostitution (SOAP). On Sept. 17, 2024 Councilmember Cathy Moore’s aimed at fighting commercial sexual exploitation and rampant and escalating gun violence associated was passed by the City Council. The legislation includes a prohibition on loitering for buying, selling or promoting prostitution, as well as a separate provision that allows a judge to issue a Stay Out of Area Prostitution (SOAP) order for buyers and/or promoters.
• Stay Out of Drug Areas (SODA). Also on Sept. 17, 2024 the City Council adopted the creation of Stay Out of Drug Areas which authorize the courts to prohibit a defendant from entering a designated areas in the city if they commit a drug-related criminal offense in that zone. Initially proposed SODA zones included areas of Downtown Seattle (Belltown) and the International District. The bill was amended to add additional areas in Belltown, Capitol Hill, the University District, and Pioneer Square.
• Crime Prevention Technologies.Two bills were approved on Oct. 8, 2024 that create the Technology Assisted Crime Prevention Pilot Project – a new public safety program that will combine a Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) System with Real-Time Crime Center (RTCC) software together in one view. The new technology gives SPD new tools to combat gun violence which has increased since last year and disproportionally impacts communities of color.
• Police Recruitment Incentives. Councilmembers permanently increased hiring bonuses from $30,000 to a maximum of $50,000, among other incentives. The goal of the legislation is to alleviate SPD’s ongoing staff retention and recruitment challenges, which is at a historic low.