Violent crime plummets 36% in downtown Seattle, lowest since 2017
mynorthwest.com
mynorthwest.com
I wonder what percentage of the world’s software engineers live in these 3 cities?
I posted this because it is objective evidence against the arguments made by the current US federal government for sending troops into Seattle ~"to quell the violence."
I believe that this threat is unprecedented since the mid 1800's, has impacts on the tech sector, how other countries behave going forward, and world history in general.
If I am off-base here, I would genuinely like to hear the counter arguments.
When I first heard "de-fund the police" as a slogan, I figured that phrase must have been run by Frank Luntz, just to make sure it made progressives (this includes myself, to some extent) sound as dumb as possible. I mean, he could not have focus-grouped a better phrase. It's hilarious, if you think that dark humor is funny.
All that aside, the reality is:
> In one version of the story, yes-ish. Parking enforcement and 911 call center response were moved out of the police department. Restructuring the 911 system has become an important step in many cities' efforts to reduce armed police response to civilians. Dispatchers are the gatekeepers of the criminal justice system: They are tasked with identifying true public safety emergencies and deciding what resources—armed or unarmed—should respond. (Parking enforcement was later moved back into the police department.)
> But in another version of the story, no. While the police department lost a little over 10% of its budget between 2020 and 2021 (mostly because 911 dispatch and parking enforcement were moved), it has been closing that gap since.
> Tellingly, not a single sworn officer has lost their job or pay due to budget constraints. In fact, the department has consistently received more funding for hiring than it can spend. And yet, the myth that the police department was defunded persists, partly because budgets are convoluted and boring, and because it's an easy answer for the police departments' woes.
https://www.kuow.org/stories/did-seattle-defund-the-police
It's crazy how hard, under Biden, that NPR station had to dance around the simple objective fact that: No. Seattle did not "de-fund the police." Actually, SPD got more money than they could spend.
I thought about it for a moment, while looking out the window of their house. I said:
"The chances of me looking out the window in Poland in the next year, and seeing the military, are lower than they are sitting here, in Seattle."
I stand by that assessment. It still blows my mind given the reality of the USA, and the objectively successful and peaceful city of Seattle.
The fact that this made it to the front page suggests that I’m not alone in believing this kind of thought is not entirely disconnected from reality.
Given the real threat of the US military being deployed to Seattle for 100% political reasons, if it doesn't stay on the front page... well.. what does that say?
___
edit: I will continue to assume that you all mean well, but we all suffer from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normalcy_bias
Please take this into consideration when you come across seemingly insane topics like this one.
It would be super cool if I didn't have to potentially see the federal government beating up everyone in the 1AM cap hill Dicks line, and my other fave places.
Is this too much to ask?
What is happening? Why is this something I have to think about?
Republicans don’t use statistics or numbers. If the vibe is off they’ll get violent.
Violent crime incidents in Seattle police’s M sectors
(the downtown core) declined 36% between June–August 2025
compared to the same period in 2024.
This was the lowest number of incidents for the summer
period since 2017. Yes, the Seattle Police Department (SPD) reports Uniform Crime Statistics
to the FBI. 3 2
These reports are the standard crimes reported to the FBI and are useful
for tracking historical data and comparing crime stats between cities 3 1
1.https://www.seattle.gov/police/information-and-data/public-disclosure-requests/public-information-online
2.https://www.seattle.gov/documents/departments/cityauditor/auditreports/gun%20violence%20audit/gmuinvestigationsreportfinal.pdf
3.https://www.seattle.gov/police/information-and-data/data/public-data-sets