Seattle may be the most successful large metro area in the country in the past decade, but it is also the large metro area where you are most likely to get your stuff stolen. While the Seattle area is not an especially violent place, it is a hotbed of non-violent property crime.
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On The Road Again
You may have noticed that the deserted streets are starting to fill up again. For better or worse, Americans are getting back on the road, returning to some of the places they had avoided March. Big Data gives us some hints about how fast people are returning to the road.
Crime and Policing in King County
Crime rates and policing levels vary widely around King County, and there is little relationship between the two in terms of simple correlations. The resources that an individual city puts toward public safety, police budgets and staffing levels reflects city priorities.
Growth (or Lack Thereof) in Police Department Spending
Recent calls for reductions in police department budgets raise the question of just how much those budgets have been growing. Have we been spending more on police services? Not really, when considering inflation and population growth in the larger cities around the county. Seattle itself has seen a significant drop in per capita spending on police operations.
Has Everyone Shared in Prosperity?
The impact of job losses during the coronavirus shutdown have fallen disproportionately on the less skilled part of the workforce. To the extent that these job losses do not bounce back during a fast recovery, we will see further erosion of the economic position of those in the least skilled, and least well-paid positions.