成人X站

MYNORTHWEST NEWS

Diaz oversees violent weekend, his first official one as SPD chief

Jan 16, 2023, 3:11 PM | Updated: Jan 17, 2023, 9:37 am

diaz...

Adrian Diaz being sworn in as next chief of Seattle Police (成人X站 7)

(成人X站 7)

After a weekend of shootings alongside a narcotics bust, multiple assaults, hate crimes, and even a power outage affecting 8,000 residents, many people who call Seattle home are worried about 2023’s violent start.

“We had a violent weekend, even by Seattle standards, for what we’ve been seeing over the past two years and the rise in violent crime and shootings and homicides,” Brandi Kruse said on 成人X站 Newsradio.

While 2022 was a more violent year, according to Seattle Police Department’s , crime followed 2021’s rollercoaster-esque pattern in the back half of the year, crescendoing within the same months (July, August, October, December).

January 2021 saw 42 shootings while January 2022 witnessed 65.

“A man shot to death inside a restaurant, three people shot outside of a popular bar on Capitol Hill,” Kruse listed off. “A guy shot after he was asked for a cigarette by a stranger in Seattle. A guy sitting in his truck shot with a grazing bullet to the head in Seattle. A 16-year-old boy shot in Tacoma. Two teenage girls shot outside of Mount Vernon grocery store in the parking lot. Just a few of the things that happened in the past few days in western Washington.”

All this occurred on ‘ first official week as Chief of Police for Seattle. Diaz was the interim chief for two years following former Police Chief Carmen Best鈥檚 resignation in August 2020, and was confirmed by the Seattle City Council with an 8-1 vote.

Seattle City Council confirms Adrian Diaz as police chief

The only 鈥渘o鈥 vote came from Councilmember Kshama Sawant.

Diaz spent his first week on the job speaking to the media about what was happening throughout Seattle.

“For me, the violence is bad, combating violent crime is getting more officers on the streets,” Diaz said on 成人X站 Newsradio with Brandi Kruse last week. “I mean, that is the simple fact, we need officers to be in the right place at the right time. I think in the last five months, we have seen a decline. We have adjusted our resources. But we’ve also had our officers working multiple shifts that are working emphasis. They’re working anything from downtown emphasis to gun violence emphasis, and we’re spreading them out really, really thin.”

Morgan Williams, an economist at NYU’s Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, conducted a study to see how valuable extra patrol officers are to a city. Williams and his colleagues, Aaron Chalfin, Benjamin Hansen, and Emily Weisburst, found adding an additional police officer to a city prevents between 0.06 and 0.1 homicides, according to .

Based on the data, the average city would need to hire between 10 and 17 new police officers to save one life a year which would cost taxpayers annually between $1.3 and $2.2 million.

But to complicate things further, the federal government puts the value of a statistical life at approximately $10 million, according to .

Seattle Mayor Harrell commits to hiring 500 SPD officers by 2027

MyNorthwest News

cdc rfk jr. patty murray...

Heather Bosch

RFK Jr. reshapes CDC vaccine panel, drawing fire from WA Sen. Patty Murray

The U.S. CDC panel that makes recommendations on vaccines is scheduled to meet Wednesday and Thursday, just weeks after Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. fired all 17 members.

6 hours ago

seattle boat fire (1)...

Julia Dallas

Seattle Fire crews respond to 2-alarm boat fire in Westlake marina

Seattle Fire Department responded to a 2-alarm boat fire at Westlake marina.

7 hours ago

Seattle federal building...

Julia Dallas

‘ICE turned my workplace into a place of terror’: Seattle federal building workers picket ICE raids

Union workers protest immigration arrests at the Seattle federal building.

7 hours ago

Measles cases in Washington...

Julia Dallas

Washington measles cases rise to 10 this year, 2 recently in King County

Measles cases in Washington have reached 10 in 2025.

8 hours ago

Valley Medical Center 1...

MyNorthwest Staff

Healthcare workers union files suit to stop Valley Medical Center layoffs

Healthcare workers' union takes legal action against layoffs at Valley Medical Center to protect jobs and patient care.

8 hours ago

Seattle beaches Seattle bacteria beach closed...

Jason Sutich

Multiple Seattle beaches closed after water samples test high for bacteria

Seattle Parks and Recreation warns beachgoers to avoid affected beaches as water samples test high for harmful bacteria.

9 hours ago

Diaz oversees violent weekend, his first official one as SPD chief