Survey: Public safety top concern for Seattlites despite improving crime stats

(The Center Square) – Despite an overall drop in crime from an all-time high in 2022, Seattleites' top concern is now public safety over homelessness.

The Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce’s survey – titled “The Index” – revealed the latest findings of what Seattle residents think of their city. According to the data, the combined issue of “crime, drugs, and public safety” is the emerging top concern for residents with 41% of votes.

Homelessness dropped to 37% of votes from 50% last spring when the previous survey was conducted.

The change in priorities for Seattle residents is complex, as more voters listed their top concern with "Government, Politicians, and local leaders." In fact, that issue jumped from 4% last spring to 15% in the latest survey.

This coincides with residents' growing frustrations with the work that Seattle city officials have done so far to address some of the top issues.

For instance, the survey data shows that residents are not satisfied with the work being done by the city to address homelessness, with three-fifths of the 700 survey respondents not agreeing that the city has made any meaningful progress on reducing the number of homelessness encampments throughout.

While more residents are concerned with public safety, overall crime in Seattle has dropped in 2024 in comparison to the past two years. Through August, there have been 28,792 reported crimes : 3,571 violent crimes and 25,221 property crimes.

Last year there were 46,011 reported crimes in the entire year, including 5,366 violent crimes and 5,660 property crimes.

In 2022, there was a record-breaking 50,198 crimes reported in Seattle, including 5,660 violent crimes.

Notably, 53% of voters believe the city needs to do more, even if that means a stronger police presence and more arrests.

“Given that public safety is now the top concern of voters, it is not surprising that a clear majority – by a margin of seven points – supports strong police presence and arresting,” Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce President Rachel Smith said during a press conference on Tuesday. “I think the voters are simply looking for more urgency [and] more action.”

Despite the concerns, the latest survey results signaled that residents are becoming more content with the state of Seattle. According to the Index, the quality-of-life rating jumped to 4.66 out of 10, the highest it has been since the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce first began its survey.

There is an increasing number of residents who believe the city is going in the right direction, however 52% still believe the city is still on the wrong track.

The polling was conducted last month, with 700 registered Seattle voters participating.