Unarmed security guards to patrol one of University of Washington’s busiest areas amid safety concerns
Seattle WA October 18 2022
After a violent return to school for students at the University of Washington, school officials along with the U-District Partnership are adding unarmed security guards to patrol one of the busiest areas.
The two unarmed guards will patrol University Way Northeast and Brooklyn Avenue Northeast between Northeast 42nd and Northeast 45th. The guards will do these patrols until the end of the calendar year on Friday and Saturday nights from 10:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m. However, students KIRO 7 spoke to overwhelmingly say it’s not enough.
“I should not be worried about, like, being held at gunpoint while walking to my campus that’s, like, 10 feet away,” Sophia Tastor, a sophomore at UW, said.
Students have felt on edge since the start of the school year. The first weekend students were back on campus, shots rang out near the university’s Parrington Lawn. In the midst of the chaos, a person was hit by a car and killed.
Within 24 hours of that, four students were shot outside of a popular bar on University Avenue.
“No one is ever caught. No one is ever identified, nothing like that, and it really is a damper on the mood around here,” Hakeem Hernandez, a sophomore at UW, said.
Tastor said she feels like not enough is being done.
“They said they were going to enhance security when the guy broke in and held the girl at gunpoint in the live out. I have not seen a single cop car,” she said. “It’s absolutely terrifying.”
Less than a week ago, Seattle police said a man broke into a home in the U-District and allegedly held a woman at gunpoint and assaulted her.
“This past week, I haven’t slept before work because I’m just terrified that even walking to my car someone in the alley is going to hold me at gunpoint,” Tastor said. Students KIRO 7 spoke with said the security guards are a step in the right direction but that more needs to be done.
“It doesn’t exactly feel like it’s making it that much safer,” Andy Majoros, a freshman, said. Gabbie Shull feels the same.
“I feel like there is crime that happens on other days of the week, so I feel having them around more would be great,” Shull said. The U-District Partnership said it’s also looking at other ways to make things safer.
“We can’t be a police force; that’s not what we are set up to do. The police are also providing an emphasis patrol, so it will be a compliment to what they’re doing already,” Don Blake, the executive director of the U-District Partnership, said.
