That’s the message from courthouse employees frustrated by the lack of safety provided by the city at their workplace, the downtown King County Courthouse. The area around the courthouse and adjoining park are notoriously overrun by open drug abuse and dealing as well as unregulated encampments.
On Friday, workers rallied at the Courthouse to call for better protection and public safety measures one week after a woman was assaulted in the courthouse bathroom. Workers say this is just the latest incident in a long-term pattern of dangerous activity.
“I think there is a strong sense of fear among a lot of employees after hearing news of that incident, but I would reiterate this is not about that one incident. This is about long-standing concerns we’ve had that we’ve raised with the county.” Darrah Hinton of the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Association told KING 5.
King County meanwhile is almost powerless to protect their employees from the surrounding area because that is currently the jurisdiction of Seattle Police, though some might like to change that.
The safety of people at their work is what any responsible elected or unelected public official should prioritize as a basic function of their job. Instead, the city is bound by a deep-seated “do nothing” approach to public safety that ultimately hurts those who most need the community’s help.
Just today, Piroshky Piroshky reported a drug deal, indecent exposure, and a knife stand-off with police – and that was just in the first three hours of being open!
We’re all upset with the direction the city is going, but the solutions are not a mystery. Basic accountability would be a good start.
