Department of Neighborhoods describes neighborhood-based community safety program and new coordinator role

Jennifer Chow, director of the Department of Neighborhoods, and Denise Colvin, the department—s newly named community capacity and safety manager, briefed the Library's Education and Neighborhoods Committee on July 24 about a city-supported, community-led portfolio of neighborhood safety projects. Chow said the department—s formal safety work began after the 2015 murder of Donnie Chin in the Chinatown-International District and the CID public-safety task force report released in February 2016; the city added funding in 2017 and 2018 and contracted the first CID public-safety coordinator in February 2019. The department described four contracted public-safety coordinator positions that are embedded in community-based organizations: the Chinatown-International District Business Improvement Area (CID community safety manager), Seattle Neighborhood Group in South Park, Ballard Alliance in Ballard, and the Greater Seattle Business Association (GSBA) in Capitol Hill. Each coordinator, the department said, connects residents and businesses to city services, surveys under-reported hotspots, supports community safety education, and helps manage neighborhood task forces. Chow said, “Donnie—s death and life had a tremendous impact on the CID community.” She noted the CID model—s expansion to other neighborhoods and thanked council members who supported a 2025 increase to contracts, raising coordinator contracts to $125,000 in some cases. The Department of Neighborhoods also described two place-based initiatives: Rainier Beach—s "A Beautiful Safe Place for Youth," a youth-focused intervention program targeting five hot-spot locations through non-arrest strategies; and the Friends of Little Saigon—s (FODEP) safety initiative, a community-led project that completed outreach and planning in 2024 and is moving into implementation with additional grant support in 2025. Denise Colvin, who filled a repurposed strategic-adviser role in February 2025, said she will "create a unified approach to community safety across interdepartmental teams," provide strategy and guidance to contractors, and design models that build community capacity to improve public health and safety. Council members asked about coordination with Seattle Police Department precinct-based crime-prevention coordinators and about how the department is tracking outcomes; staff said neighborhood needs vary and that the department will continue an interdepartmental team to inventory outreach and better coordinate communications and services for neighborhoods. The department said it will continue to expand the model into additional neighborhoods, strengthen internal departmental coordination, pursue regional partnerships, and develop metrics in partnership with the mayor—s innovation and performance team. No formal council action was requested at the briefing; the department said it will return with progress reports and specific implementation requests as projects move from planning into execution. The presentation listed community partners and contractors by neighborhood and described a governance model that keeps coordinators employed by community organizations to maintain local trust while coordinating with city departments.