Seattle business owners left to fend for themselves on crime take matters into their own hands | Fox Business
By: Emma Colton (Fox Business)
Is it any wonder.............a liberal bastion.
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
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Seattle business owners outraged by the city's crime trend put together a town hall-style meeting at a local barber shop to speak out about the violence and danger they face and to call on city leadership to take control.
"Seattle city council's number one job should be to protect the citizens of Seattle," Kevin Rinderle with Yukon Trading Company said at the meeting Tuesday, according to KOMO News. "We're here collectively begging for help."
Matt Humphrey, owner of Steele Barber and Spa in Ballard, said he organized the meeting to talk about possible solutions to crime issues as businesses contend with rampant break-ins, vandalism, drug use, violence and homelessness.
"When it comes to crime in Seattle, I just don't want to be silent anymore," Humphrey said.
SEATTLE CREDIT UNION TO SHUT DOWN LOCATIONS OVER CRIME, CRATERING FOOT TRAFFIC
Near downtown Seatte and along I-5, a homeless community of tents nicknamed The Treeline live on the edge of the freeway and boarder of redwood trees in Seattle, Washington Friday July 22, 2022. (Melina Mara/The Washington Post via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Several business owners at the town hall directed their grievances toward Citywide Seattle Councilmember Sara Nelson, a small business owner herself, who was in attendance.
"We've been broken into four times in the last couple of years, and when we're making our insurance claims, it's really hard because we're at the point where they could drop us," Karen Jahn with The Wax Bar said, according to KOMO News.
SMALL BUSINESSES PAY ULTIMATE PRICE AS CRIME WAVE CONTINUES BATTERING COMMUNITIES ACROSS THE NATION
The Space Needle stands over the Seattle skyline as Mt. Rainier is seen in the background. (John Moore/Getty Images / Getty Images)
Steve Naramore, of a shipping and coffee hybrid store called Sip and Ship, said that it's become common practice for his employees to stand guard at the store's door and engage the deadbolt if they see a potentially dangerous person approaching.
"Our crew are often left to deal with increasingly aggressive behavior," Naramore said. "A common position for one of our baristas is to stand by the front door with her hands on the deadbolt lock because somebody is pacing back and forth in crisis in front of the store, and we're just worried, terrified that they're going to come in and we don't know really what's going to happen from there."
SEATTLE IS IN 'A CRIMINAL AND HUMANITARIAN EMERGENCY,' BAKER SAYS AS RAMPANT CRIME FORCES BUSINESSES TO CLOSE
Another store owner said crime in the city might force the business to pack up and leave.
"That's a painful conversation to bring up, and we want to stay here for a long time, but it has to make sense, for us, for our business," Burke Lyman with Ascent Outdoors said.
The business owners pitched solutions such as adding more police officers to patrol the city on foot and reimbursing businesses when their stores are vandalized. Attendees also shared advice on how to appropriately handle a stranger outside a store who appears to be in distress.
Nelson told KOMO News that she heard the concerns from business owners, adding, "this is what keeps me up at night as the chair of economic development." She added that Seattle "can't afford to lose any more businesses."
Seattle has been dealing with a violent crime spike in recent years, including a 23% increase in fatal shootings last year. The city is also contending with issues of homelessness, drug use and cratering foot traffic stemming from the pandemic.
Near downtown Seatte and along I-5, a homeless community of tents nicknamed The Treeline live on the edge of the freeway in Seattle, Washington July 22, 2022. (Melina Mara/The Washington Post via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Concerns from businesses over crime in the city has been vocalized by locally run shops all the way up to national brand names in recent months. Fox News Digital reported earlier this month that the Seattle Credit Union announced the closure of two branches over low foot traffic near the locations and public safety concerns.
Starbucks, which is based out of Seattle, closed at least six Starbucks locations in the city over safety concerns in 2022.
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Looks like time to REfund police.
Trump and his supporters are off topic.
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That all you have? The door is right up there
or here 
take your choice. Thanks.
“Thanks.”
No, thank you for letting the comment stand.
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Don't look at me................
Don't you just love Democrat run septic tank cities.
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Republican-controlled states have higher murder rates than Democratic ones: study
I see you are in distraction mode.
And guess who runs the jurisdictions within red states with the highest murder rates...
Ignorance? Tunnel vision? Or the most believable - ignorant partisan hacks.
You know they aren't going to acknowedge that fact.
Are there Democrat run bastions of stupidity cities with high murder rates dragging the whole state down in those Republican controlled states?
Just a difference in definitions. MY definition of septic tank cities are ones with high rates of murders. You have your definitions, I have mine.
Your link refers to STATES. Not cities. Do you define a city and a state as the same thing?
So you are claiming that crimes in states are only counted in unincorporated areas??????? You are reeeeaaching...
Your link refers to STATES. Not cities. When you have something relating to the article back with us.
Very good Sir.
You earned the A today.
It's going to be like the old west in Seattle.
Tell Joe, that's why people want guns.
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They do kind of go hand in hand.
Yep, and some peeps here just don’t like to admit it.
Note current condition of post #4.
I guess they don't like to be called out. It's not like they had proven to be wrong.
Gotta protect your propaganda don’t ya know. Just tag it with one of the arbitrary rules around here that protects your preferred narrative and be gone with it ....
was wondering how long it would take for something like this to come along .
I don't think most of you get it. This isn't mismanagement. It's not possible that things could be the way they are increasingly becoming simply by accident and mismanagement.
The intentional re-segregation of our nation.
Sexualization of children
Redefinition of words for the purpose of furthering ideology rather than defining an objective fact.
Reverting back to a shame/honor culture rather than a morality-based culture.
The ascendance of Postmodernism and the general lack of understanding of what this means for societies.
The attack against law enforcement.
The attack against the 1st Amendment.
The attack against the 2nd Amendment
Rule of law being supplanted by rule by governmental organizations.
Public education and most of higher education becoming indoctrination centers rather than institutes for learning.
Intentional ignoring of the border.
The elevation of feelings and affirmation over scientific fact.
I can keep going but I'm sure you get the gist. This is not happening by accident. The American public, on both sides, are being played and we're letting them do it.