Violent crime in Seattle, Washington, reached a 14-year high last year, according to a Seattle Police Department (SPD) year-end crime report.
Overall crime across the city increased by ten percent and violent crime rose 20 percent, though murders decreased by 25 percent. The violent crime rate was driven largely by an increase in aggravated assaults (up 24 percent) and robberies (up 18 percent), the report found.
Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell addressed the report at a Friday press conference and said the police department has been grappling with a staffing crisis and is short nearly 350 officers, KIRO7 reported. The report’s release comes after Seattle voted not once, but twice, to defund its police department, which further exacerbated its staffing shortages. According to the crime report, 911 response times have suffered as a result of the shortage — priority one median…
