SEATTLE -
Just how safe are you when you visit downtown Seattle? And what can make done to make it safer? Those are just some of the questions that will be addressed when The Downtown Seattle Association host a Q&A Forum focused on public safety Downtown Thursday morning at the Market Theatre in Pike Place Market.
The forum will highlight safety issues important to Downtown and will examine new strategies to curb crime, open-air drug dealing and aggressive soliciting in Seattle's urban core.
It has been just over ten months since Seattle Police conducted an undercover drug sting in the Belltown area that led to the arrests of dozens of alleged street level drug dealers.
Those who live and work there say the sting made things better for a while, but since then the problem has returned.
"This was a large organized group that pushed out the locals, so to speak, so when they were taken out and moved out things were quiet for a while. That was the short term but the people who were there initially came back so we're back to having open drug dealing, crack smoking in the street."
Last week the DSA in partnership with the Belltown Community Council, Chinatown-International District and Pioneer Square Community Association sent a letter to Mayor Mike McGinn, City Attorney Peter Holmes and the Seattle City Council asking to work together with the city on new strategies and efforts to improve public safety throughout Downtown.
The forum will highlight safety issues important to Downtown and will examine new strategies to curb crime, open-air drug dealing and aggressive soliciting in Seattle's urban core.
It has been just over ten months since Seattle Police conducted an undercover drug sting in the Belltown area that led to the arrests of dozens of alleged street level drug dealers.
Those who live and work there say the sting made things better for a while, but since then the problem has returned.
"This was a large organized group that pushed out the locals, so to speak, so when they were taken out and moved out things were quiet for a while. That was the short term but the people who were there initially came back so we're back to having open drug dealing, crack smoking in the street."
Last week the DSA in partnership with the Belltown Community Council, Chinatown-International District and Pioneer Square Community Association sent a letter to Mayor Mike McGinn, City Attorney Peter Holmes and the Seattle City Council asking to work together with the city on new strategies and efforts to improve public safety throughout Downtown.
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