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This week, I joined Police Chief Carmen Best, Councilmember Lisa Herbold, and community leaders at Hing Hay Park to announce some historic officer hiring numbers, and help launch the Seattle Police Department?s (SPD) new ?This is My Neighborhood? campaign.
In Seattle, we have to recognize that we face challenges in retaining police officers. We?re one of the fastest-growing cities in the country, but we have ground to gain on hiring more officers. In 2018, we hired 68 officers, but lost 109. That?s a net negative of 41 officers in a single year.
We know that?s unsustainable. We?re a big city now, with big city challenges. And we need a robust police department with officers committed to community policing, and were making advancements towards that.
Under Chief Best?s leadership, we refuse to accept this trend as the norm. That?s why we worked to research and revamp our hiring, recruitment, and retention processes. We issued a report outlining 12 key initiatives to advance hiring and retention, and our 2020 Budget includes $1.2 million to operationalize that work this year and beyond. ?
 The good news is that SPD is already making progress, and turning those hiring and retention numbers around. In 2019, the department hired 108 officers ? that?s the most we?ve hired in a single year in the last decade. And of that 108, 39 percent are people of color, and 17 percent are women. That?s the highest percentage of people of color hired in a single year in the department?s history.
And that positive trend is continuing. As of January 31, we?ve hired 11 new officers in 2020.
To continue that momentum, SPD just launched the ?This is My Neighborhood? campaign, which will help SPD continue their great work to hire a more diverse police force with deep roots in community.
The campaign will feature a series of 12 billboards in neighborhoods across Seattle, highlighting the work of officers who are ingrained in that neighborhood. The first billboard celebrates Officer Judinna Gulpan. She?s an officer in the Community Police Team stationed in the Chinatown-International District. Every day, she walks the beat in the CID, making connections and building relationships with residents and business owners. Folks there know her by first her name, and they know they can reach out for whatever reason. That?s what real, community policing looks like.
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 None of this would be possible without the incredible work of Chief Best and her command staff. Under her leadership, the Seattle Police Department serves as a national leader on 21st century policing. And as Mayor, I am committed to investing in our police department. I truly believe that SPD is the best police department in the country, and we are showing that we lead the way when it comes to hiring women and people of color.
As always, please continue to write me at?[email protected], reach out via?Twitter?and?Facebook, and stay up-to-date on the work we?re doing for the people of Seattle on?my?blog.
 
Earlier this week, Mayor Durkan announced a new partnership with United Way of King County to effectively prevent winter evictions and assist individuals who are facing eviction. In addition, the Mayor returned the City Council?s winter eviction legislation unsigned, with the understanding that it will become law after 30 days.
The City Council?s legislation does not protect most vulnerable households at risk of evictions, and the City could incur potential litigation. In addition to spurring more evictions in the Spring, Council?s legislation did not ban winter evictions.
?As a young lawyer, I saw firsthand how devastating evictions can be in one?s life. I first met Lola at a women?s shelter after she had been forced out of her home and onto the street. After months in court, I was able to prove she was wrongfully evicted and connect her with a new home, but she had spent months without a home because of lengthy legal proceedings. Providing the resources to help prevent eviction in the first place is the right thing to do,? said Mayor Durkan.??
Mayor Durkan will transmit a bill to increase funding assistance to tenants facing homelessness due to eviction between December 1 and March 1. This program builds off of the Human Services Department?s existing initiative that served 974 unique households at risk of homelessness last year.
The Mayor signed a new Executive Order this week to combat hate crimes and crimes of bias in Seattle. A?2019 report?by the City Auditor found that from 2012 to 2019 in Seattle, reports of hate crimes increased by 400 percent. In addition, the report found that African Americans, LGBTQ+ individuals, and Jewish and Muslim communities were most severely impacted by this increase. The report also found that community-based organizations who work with historically marginalized communities sought more robust education, data-sharing and prevention efforts from the City.
?Today we mark an important moment in our work to build a better, more just Seattle. With this Executive Order, we?re taking steps to combat the rise of hate crimes and ensure we?re meeting the needs of our most vulnerable communities,? said Mayor Durkan. ?We know that our city is not immune to the rising levels of toxicity and hate in our country. But in Seattle, we know we can and must do better. We are leading with equity and a commitment to learn how the City can address the root causes of hate violence and make our city safer for our most vulnerable neighbors.?
You can read the full text of the Executive Order here.
At Phnom Penh Noodle House in the Chinatown-International District, Mayor Durkan joined Councilmember Tammy Morales, Office of Economic Development (OED) Director Bobby Lee, and community leaders to announce over $2 million in new investments in small businesses and neighborhood business districts through the Tenant Improvement Grants and Only in Seattle initiative.
 ?We know that our small businesses and business districts are the economic drivers of Seattle. They provide good-paying jobs, serve as community gathering spaces, and enhance the culture and life of a neighborhood,? said Mayor Durkan. ?But so many forces, whether that?s commercial affordability, or displacement, or a destabilizing event, are making it harder for small businesses to thrive in Seattle. It?s why we continue to take action to support them in moments of uncertainty, and they can count on us as a reliable partner and ally.?
Phnom Penh Noodle House is a family-owned restaurant that was started 30 years agon by Cambodian refugees. After being forced to close in 2018, Phnom Penh will re-open their doors to the public thanks in part to OED?s Tenant Improvement Grants.
This week, Sound Transit voted unanimously to advance the 130th Street Station to its final design phase and first steps of construction. This decision will speed up construction and ensure more North Seattle communities can access Link light rail.
?Our residents, including those living in north Seattle, are ready for more transit and more light rail. Moving forward on the 130th Street Station is common sense. In addition to providing quality transit to more in our community, this decision will save millions of dollars in cost and limits future disruption for riders throughout the Lynnwood Link line. I want to thank the community members who have helped make action possible and Councilmember Debora Juarez, who has been an incredible voice to speed up light rail and the 130th?Street Station.??
Click here to stay updated on this project.
Mayor Durkan and Councilmember Juarez joined leaders at NHL Seattle to help break ground at the new Northgate Ice Centre. From new Link light rail, to affordable housing, to this new world-class training facility, Northgate is at the epicenter of Seattle?s work to become a city of the future.
We know that this center will be a civic treasure for decades to come. We?ll see you at the Overlook Bar in 2021!
 For this week?s edition of the Weekend Read, we encourage you to check out the Seattle Times? reporting on SPD?s hiring and recruitment successes. The story begins:
The Seattle Police Department, which has struggled in recent years to recruit and retain enough officers to significantly grow the number of cops on patrol, will try to build on strong 2019 results with a billboard campaign aimed at local neighborhoods, officials said Monday.
The department brought on a record 108 officers last year, and a record 39% were people of color, while 18% were women, Mayor Jenny Durkan said at a news conference with Police Chief Carmen Best and City Councilmember Lisa Herbold at Hing Hay Park in the Chinatown International District. The department?has begun?offering hiring bonuses of up to $15,000 for trained officers from other cities and up $7,500 for new recruits.
But the department needs to keep hiring at a rapid clip in order to grow the size of its officer ranks, because large numbers of cops are continuing to leave. Seattle has hired 679 officers since 2015, but 553 have retired or left for other reasons during that time, according to?a council memo.
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