From 1995 to 2016, Seattle’s homicide rate steadily and consistently declined.
Then, in 2020, the city government ordered law enforcement to stand down and allow BLM & Antifa to riot for months. The now infamous CHAZ/CHOP, “a twenty-four-hour Black Lives Matter cop-free autonomous zone,” saw a staggering seven people shot in ten days. Two Black males were killed, ages 16 and 19. Another 14-year-old Black male barely survived and was left debilitated.
In 2021, homicides fell compared to 2020. However, some of the suburban areas of King County saw huge spikes that year.
Now, the surge is back on. The Seattle Police reported 35 homicides during the first seven months of 2023. Then, another fifteen were killed in August! Three of these homicides were from a mass shooting involving Ethiopian immigrants. This means that Seattle had more homicides in the past two months than for the entire years of 2010, 2013, and 2016. The local media is blaming a “police shortage.” However, the police shortage is directly caused by the anti-police policies of city officials and the District Attorney’s office.
2016: 20 (711k, 2.9 per 100k)
2017: 27 (730k, 3.7 per 100k)
2018: 32 (743k, 4.3 per 100k)
2019: 36 (753k, 4.8 per 100k)
2020: 53 (738k, 7.2 per 100k)
2021: 42 (734k, 5.7 per 100k)
2022: 52 (749k, 6.9 per 100k)
2023: 50 so far…
Portland set a new all time homicide rate record in 2022. Seattle still has a way to go. Things can still get a lot worse. In 1993 & 1994, Seattle had homicides rate over 13 per 100k, before a massive crackdown and expansion of the police force brought about a twenty year decline in homicide rates.
