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Campus Community Safety

Additional actions the UW and our partners are taking to improve U District safety

Oct. 7, 2022

As we close out the first full week of the quarter and mark just less than a week since the shootings in the University District, I want to provide a brief update on actions since last Sunday morning. The incidents continue to reverberate through our shaken community.

First, we continue to provide support to the four students who were injured and those who witnessed the traumatic events. Harborview doctors and nurses did their incredible work for the injured students. All are now discharged and starting their recovery paths. UW staff are working hard to help these students, the witnesses, families and friends who need ongoing support in terms of counseling or other services.

As I stated earlier this week, the UW is committed to doing what it takes to help prevent violence and maintain a secure environment for our neighborhood and campus community. After last weekend’s violence in the U District, we moved with urgency to work with the City of Seattle and our great U District Partnership (UDP) allies to provide tangible measures we believe will make a difference.

  1. The Seattle Police Department plans to deploy emphasis patrols in the U District at night until 2 a.m. on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays for the next several weeks.
  2. Through our alliance with the UDP, the UW will now fund a trained security patrol (not armed) to walk University Way NE (The Ave) and Brooklyn Ave. NE between 42nd and 45th, from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. on Friday and Saturday nights.
  3. We are supporting the UDP in its work with nightlife businesses in the U District (which include bars, restaurants and cafes) to make security investments and develop safety protocols and strategies to keep patrons and employees safe – including meaningful steps to prevent over-service, under-age drinking and preventing violence.
  4. The UDP and the City of Seattle are looking at improvements to the physical environment near The Ave, including brighter lighting in key parking lots and alleys, to enhance safety on the street.

This timely and coordinated response to the safety challenges we face in the U District is essential to restoring a sense of safety for our students, staff, faculty and visitors feel when eating, shopping or socializing on The Ave and the greater area. The energy of our students is part of what makes the U District one of Seattle’s greatest neighborhoods and our students will be part of its recovery from this past weekend.

For students, staff and faculty – please make use of UW safety resources that are available, including the SafeZone app, UW Alerts, and the Husky NightRide shuttle service and the Husky NightWalk rides. I’ve already heard great suggestions for expanding these services.

To those of you I’ve spoken with this week, particularly the students and parents, thank you for the time and for your ideas for how we move forward.

Sally Clark
Vice President for Campus Community Safety