Mike McGinn, Mayor

For Immediate Release: Monday, February 08, 2010

Contact:  Mark Matassa, (206) 233-2655 or (206) 321-7307 (cell), mark.matassa@seattle.gov

Public input sought on Police Chief search

Announcing the first of three forums this week, and a new website

SEATTLE – The public is invited to offer feedback and help draft assessment criteria for Seattle’s next Police Chief during several upcoming public forums and through other means, including a dedicated telephone line and a new website launched today.

The first of three public hearings devoted to the Police Chief search is at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 10, at Northgate Community Center, 10510 5th Ave NE, Seattle. The first two hours of the meeting will be dedicated to public comments, with another hour set aside for the Seattle Police Chief Search Committee to begin developing competitive selection process and assessment criteria.

Here are the questions Mayor Mike McGinn’s Police Chief Search Committee is asking of interested parties:

• What qualities are you looking for in a new Police Chief?
• What is the most important public safety issue in Seattle?
• What does the Seattle Police Department do well?
• What changes would you like to see?

Additional public hearings are scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 17, at Franklin High School, 3013 Mount Baker S., Seattle; and 5:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 26, at New Holly Gathering Center, 7054 32nd Ave. S., Seattle. At the New Holly meeting, language interpreters will be available in Tagalog, Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, Laotian, Amharic, Oromiffa, Khmer (Cambodian), Somali, and Tigrinya.

In addition to the public meetings, residents are invited to find background material on the Police Chief search process, including links to online input, at a new website, www.seattle.gov/mayor/spdChiefSearch/.

Residents also may call 206-684-CITY (206-684-2489) to offer answers to the Seattle Police Chief Search Committee’s four questions for the public, listed above.

Mayor McGinn will appoint a new chief in June to succeed former Chief Gil Kerlikowske, who is now the nation’s drug czar, subject to City Council approval. Kate Joncas and Charles Rolland are Co-Chairs of the mayor’s 26-member Seattle Police Chief Search Committee, which will recommend three finalists to the mayor in May.

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The City of Seattle’s 2009-2010 budget included a new, multi-million dollar Seattle Youth Violence Prevention Initiative to dramatically change how the city deals with youth violence.

In proposing this new Initiative, former Mayor Nickels stated, “We will not stand for this violence; this has to stop. The time has come for the city and the community to fundamentally change our overall strategy on preventing youth violence. I am asking neighbors, families, schools, churches, service workers and community members to come together and join our efforts.”

In 2008, five teenagers were shot to death in Seattle.  Earlier in the year, former Mayor Nickels brought together community leaders, principals, members of the faith community and others to develop a new approach to preventing youth and gang-related violence.

The Initiative is underway and focuses on about 800 young people a year who are at highest risk of perpetuating violence or becoming victims.

Initiative planners began by examining programs in Seattle and in cities across the nation including Boston, Baltimore, Chicago, San Jose, Washington D.C. and Lowell, Mass.Representatives from cities with proven strategies to decrease youth violence were invited to Seattle to share their innovative programs.  Baltimore’s Operation Safe Kids used intensive outreach to juvenile offenders and saw a 44 percent drop in the number of youth re-arrested. “The lesson for Seattle is collaboration. You always need a strategy,” advised Director Chris Williams.

Penny Griffith works with Latino youth and their parents in neighborhoods in Washington, D.C., where they dramatically reduced shootings and stabbings.  ”The community got angry and said enough is enough,” Griffith said.

Seattle’s Initiative incorporates many of the ideas from these national models.  It proposes a new approach to street outreach with the use of violence interrupters who are privy to information on the street and may actually prevent violent acts and retaliation before they occur.

Engaging Our Young People

Young people will be referred to a wide range of services through juvenile court, police, community outreach workers, schools, Seattle Parks and Recreation youth centers, and the neighborhood network agencies.

The Seattle Initiative calls for establishing extended hours at some youth centers, giving children a safe place to go, or be taken, to stay out of trouble.  In addition to case management, anger management and recreation programming, the City will support more community-based projects that engage and mentor young people.

In April 2009, school emphasis officers were assigned to four middle schools, where they  work to improve attendance and train children to deal with conflict.  In summer of 2009, the Initiative helped to fund summer youth employment, giving 200 young people an opportunity to learn important job skills and putting them on a path for a better future.

Even before the Initiative began, Seattle police stepped up emphasis patrols, working especially closely with schools, and doubled the number of officers working in the gang unit.  Mayor Nickels emphasized that law enforcement can be only part of the solution.  He also acknowledged members of the faith community for their efforts and contributions.

To read more about the City’s Initiative, including related reports and documents, click here.