More than a quarter-million residents of greater Seattle have considered leaving the Emerald City due to rising crime — the highest percentage of any large metro area in the country, according to a new national survey.
The data, collected by the US Census Bureau and other federal agencies as part of the Household Pulse Survey, shows that 7.2% of adults in and around the Washington State city have felt pressure to move in the last six months because they felt their neighborhood isn’t safe, the Seattle Times said.
That number translates to about 227,000 people out of the 3.1 million who inhabit the city and its suburbs.
In comparison, only 3.4% of New Yorkers considered moving away over similar concerns, according to the study.
Some conservatives believe the numbers are tied to supposedly “soft-on-crime” policies the city has long embraced – as well as its efforts to defund its police department after the 2020 murder of George Floyd inMinnespta, which sparked outrage throughout the nation.
“The obvious consequences of those policies is an increase in crime and a less safe community where it’s more difficult for people to live and do business,” Zach Smith, legal fellow and manager of the Supreme Court and Appellate Advocacy Program for the Heritage Foundation’s Meese Center, told Fox News.
“Seattle was at the forefront of the ‘Defund the Police’ movement and local leaders committed to cutting the city’s police budget by half – though they had to back away from that audacious goal when confronted with the reality of rising crime rates,” Smith said.
Crime has indeed risen in the city — homicides spiked by 24% last year, and motor vehicle thefts climbed by 30%, Fox said. Overall crime ticked up by 4%.
The increases came as police staffing fell to a 30-year low in 2022 as cops left the department for retirement or other jobs, according to Fox.
Despite this, officials have continued to reject tough-on-crime measures — such as a June bill that would have allowed the city attorney to prosecute public drug use and possession.
The city council shot down the measure in a 5-4 vote.
“At a critical time for the recovery of downtown, the use of dangerous drugs in our public spaces is a significant contributing factor to residents, employees, families and visitors feeling unsafe exploring our city or returning to the office,” the Downtown Seattle Association said in scathing take-down of the vote.
“In fact, in a poll we commissioned … a full 77% of voters agreed with the statement ‘Seattle’s hands-off approach to people using illegal drugs in public is contributing to rampant street crime and is making it much harder for downtown to recover,’” the association said, noting that 63% strongly agreed.
Due to the crime infestation, Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell has pushed for more cops on the streets.
“We need immediate action and innovation to respond to our public safety issues,” Harrell said in February. “We need more officers to address our staffing crisis.”
