VIDEO: Waterway safety, ‘street racing’ proposals @ City Council’s Public Safety Committee

Twp items of extra local interest were on the agenda Tuesday for the City Council’s Public Safety Committee, for which District 1 Councilmember Rob Saka serves as vice chair.

First – starting at 20 minutes into the meeting video above – a consulting firm presented results of their commissioned study on waterway safety in Seattle, “a year in the making,” according to Councilmember Dan Strauss, who had advocated for it. You can read the full report here, and see their slide deck here. One major recommendation: More safety education for recreational boaters, who often aren’t aware of rules, laws, and best safety practices. More signage might help, they suggested. The consultants also recommended more synching between Seattle Police and Fire marine resources – they already cooperate and collaborate, but it should be more formalized. Their data could be better utilized, too.

They also noted the need for more marine-focused resources – SFD, for example, wants to build a new fire station on South Lake Union; SPD Harbor Patrol could use more staffing. And they could leverage other city personnel – perhaps the expanded Park Rangers team could help with noise enforcement, they suggested.

While the briefing didn’t touch on any West Seattle waterway-safety specifics, we noted while searching the full report that there are some local mentions – for example, on page 43, “SPD is developing a new map drawn to identify more specific Harbor Patrol ‘beat’ areas, such as Elliott Bay, Lake Union, Duwamish, Alki, and Fauntleroy.” Also mentioned (page 16), Fire Station 36 under the West Seattle Bridge at the north end of Delridge, because it “has the Marine 1 Unit, which provides landside firefighting response for fires on or near the water.”

No action was taken or proposed – the recommendations aren’t at the level of proposed policies or budget items, yet. A slightly different situation for the meeting’s second briefing, billed as the first look at “an ordinance relating to street racing; adding the crime of racing; adding the traffic infraction of vehicle participation in unlawful racing …” What City Attorney Ann Davison (who was at the meeting) announced last week, a new $500 fine for registered owners of participating vehicles, was just part of it. They’re also aligning with some new state laws, as noted in the rather sparse slide deck. Watch the briefing (which starts 54 minutes into the meeting video) for much more elaboration, including SPD Assistant Chief Dan Nelson recounting multiple “takeover” events this past Saturday night around the city, including the one on which we reported, at 2nd/Michigan/West Marginal. This recounting featured a video compilation. Nelson said it was important for SPD to use “targeted enforcement” to keep tracking and breaking up those gatherings, because some result in crime and collisions (shootings were associated with a takeover on MLK Way that same night, he said).

Saka asked why automated cameras couldn’t be more extensively used; a City Attorney’s Office rep explained that technologically, cameras could be used for much more, but state law limits their use, so it would have to change. Councilmember Joy Hollingsworth asked how people participating in driving stunts such as donuts would get ticketed; Nelson said officers would first move in to “triage” life-safety dangers, and then would start gathering plate numbers. Saka wondered where the $500 fine came from. Davison said they felt it would be “meaningful” but not “excessive.”

Before the proposed new laws can take effect, they’ll have to come back to the committee for a vote, and then go to the full council.