[dubfan]

Most of those complaints are from people who haven't lived in Seattle long enough to know those areas have been problem spots for at least 20 years. My father worked downtown in the early/mid-80s and says it was exactly the same then, if not a little bit worse. Not that that excuses the problem. Also, the Seattle PD is absolutely petrified of doing anything that might incur the wrath of the Department of Justice. Blaming McGinn for the street people is like blaming him for I-5 traffic: it's been a problem before, and it will continue to be a problem until something very drastic happens (and in the case of street people, it will take something unpalatable to Seattle's NIMBY/sensitive electorate)

[jspaur]

Crime is down nationally since the 80s. So for things to be the same, or only a little better says a lot.

I completely agree that SPD is petrified. I've live/worked in downtown Seattle for a while - and while I think some of the 'scaryness' is overblown, it's hard not to see a change in the trend over the past few years.

[CamperBob2]

I don't know that I'd call it "petrified" -- I believe the common term is "de-policing." It's a passive-aggressive way for SPD to deal with leadership that they don't respect.

SPD has an incredibly strong union, which is where the real problem lies IMHO. A bad cop almost literally has to murder somebody before they can fire him. DOJ took note of the resulting abuses, but of course they aren't interested in going toe-to-toe with the union, and neither is the mayor.

It's a complex problem but it stems from a fairly ordinary failure of leadership, and that particular buck stops in the mayor's office.