‘This is the worst I’ve seen’: Seattle Police continue to combat open air drug use in downtown

City leaders across the United States continue to figure out ways to combat the pervasive use of illegal drugs in public places and Seattle is one of those cities. Back in the fall of 2023, the City Council passed a drug ordinance that would make open air drug use of illegal narcotics a misdemeanor and an arrestable offense.

KIRO 7 got a chance to walk along 3rd and Pike with a few SPD officers enforcing the drug ordinance.

Officer Robert Dunwoody has been with SPD for 7 years and believes overall drug use in the city has skyrocketed, especially in parts of downtown.

“It’s just an absolute corridor of drugs and rampant theft and violent crime and more of us would greatly help,” Officer Dunwoody said.

During our walk along, we saw Dunwoody and several officers warn people about openly using illegal drugs in public. We saw the moments when Dunwoody saw a man openly smoking what he believed was fentanyl.

When Dunwoody offered the pathway to treatment for the suspect, he declined. The officers ran the suspect’s information and as they were waiting, they told the man if he had no warrants for his arrest, they would let him off with a warning. But it turns out he did have warrants in Seattle and other nearby cities, so he was arrested. But KIRO 7 has learned that same man arrested by Dunwoody and the other officers is back on the streets hours later.

“If the jail won’t take him in on his warrants, then he will probably be released from the precinct because we can’t take him to the jail. And he will be out on the street using narcotics long before we get out. We’ll probably have an overdose before we leave the precinct again,” Officer Dunwoody said.

Captain Steve Strand sat down with KIRO 7 prior to our walk along. He says while he and SPD think the ordinance is a step in the right direction, he believes there is more work to be done.

“This is not a one and done. We can’t do it just once and solve the problem. We have to continue,” Captain Strand said.

Both Captain Strand and Officer Dunwoody also argue another way to improve their work on enforcing the ordinance is by having more officers on the streets patrolling hot spot areas. The department is currently experiencing a staffing crisis.

“The more officers that are out there, the more people you can reach,” Dunwoody said.

Yet with that said, SPD remains hopeful that city leadership will pass more laws addressing the ongoing drug crisis.

“We’re always optimistic and we always try,” Dunwoody said.

“And I think those discussions are happening and I am always optimistic we are going to get there,” Captain Strand said.

The City Attorney’s Office provided these numbers on the open air drug cases in the city:

•              Number of cases referred by Seattle Police to the Seattle City Attorney’s Office (CAO) – 252

•              Number of cases declined by CAO – 114

* Cases can be declined for a number of reasons, including proof reasons, etc.

•              Number of cases filed – 63

•              Number of cases awaiting toxicology reports – 46

•              Number of cases under review – 29