Business leaders demand action, plan from Seattle mayor on public safety

Lauren Girgis, The Seattle Times on Sep 10, 2026

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SEATTLE — Seattle business leaders asked Mayor Katie Wilson and the Seattle City Council to commit to a series of demands on public safety on Thursday, including increasing police patrols and clearing encampments in some areas.

The letter, signed by 35 local CEOs and business leaders, pointed to an August public-opinion poll of 500 registered voters conducted by the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, which authored Thursday’s letter alongside other organizations. The letter was signed by former Gov. Chris Gregoire and the CEOs or presidents of BECU, Microsoft, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Starbucks and Costco.

It is the second open letter sent to Wilson in two days. On Wednesday, Seattle City Council member Bob Kettle attempted to put Wilson on the spot by demanding she explain to him and other council members why she asked former police Chief Shon Barnes for his resignation.

The poll, conducted by Fulcrum Strategy Group, stated a majority of respondents had low confidence in the city’s public safety plan and high support for the public camera program.

The letter asks the city to produce a public safety action plan within 100 days that includes increased police patrols in the Little Saigon area in the Chinatown International District; arresting people suspected of public drug use if they repeatedly refuse services; and a “policy pathway” for shutting down open-air drug markets.

“This is not a narrow or partisan agenda, it is a shared baseline,” the letter states.

Former Mayor Bruce Harrell had, for a while, ordered increased police presence around 12th and Jackson in Little Saigon, but backed off after the election. The large number of people using drugs there has been a constant presence for years.

The letter also asked the city to ban homeless people from camping within 250 feet of a park, playground or school and require such encampments be cleared within 72 hours.

In a statement from Wilson, she said “many of the specific requests they made are well underway,” including increasing police presence in Rainier Beach, the Chinatown International District, Little Saigon, Aurora Avenue North and Belltown.

Wilson pointed to residential street barriers propped up by the Department of Transportation earlier this summer around Aurora Avenue in response to community complaints about gun violence and sex trafficking in the area.

The mayor’s statement said a “comprehensive gun violence reduction strategy” will be announced next week, as well as an update on her pledge to build 1,000 units of shelter by the end of the year and 4,000 by the end of her term.

“The work to reduce violence and increase safety in Seattle never stops in my office,” Wilson said. “Seattle is making progress, step by step.”

The letter from business leaders, also sent to council President Joy Hollingsworth and public safety committee Chair Kettle, pointed to low per capita police staffing. Washington is last in the nation in police staffing per capita, and the Seattle Police Department has about 1.2 officers per 1,000 residents — lower, even, than the statewide rate.

The letter said the plan should “recommit” to the target seven-minute 911 response time. In the first three months of 2026, half of all priority 1 calls — categorized as critical incidents, including potential injury or death — received a response in less than seven minutes. The average response time in 2025 for priority 1 calls was around 10 minutes.

The letter also demanded the city “increase the public safety investments” for policing in the upcoming budget and turn on closed circuit television cameras in the Stadium District and Pioneer Square. Wilson said on the campaign trail she would turn off police cameras and not install new ones.

In office, she said she would install but keep new ones near the stadiums off until a city-funded report was done on their efficacy and risks. She turned them on during the World Cup because she said there was a real threat to safety, but turned them back off after. The issue has continued to follow her throughout her first nine months in office.

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