In times of crisis, the most basic job of an elected official is not to add confusion into the mix.
With the tragic Bite of Seattle shooting on Sunday, questions mounted as the city’s response often seemed muddled and contradictory.
The Mayor’s Office and Seattle Police Department must focus on reviewing communications protocols to ensure this doesn’t become standard operating procedure.
Three people died and four were injured on Sunday evening after the shooting at Seattle Center. Police arrested one suspect, a 15-year-old.
Seattleites owe the officers and fire department personnel who ran to the gunfire a huge debt of gratitude for putting themselves in harm’s way and protecting the public.
It took nearly five hours after the first SPD social media post about a shooting at Seattle Center before Mayor Katie Wilson and Assistant Chief Tyrone Davis took questions about what happened. Meanwhile, Wilson erroneously posted that two suspects had been taken into custody when it was only one. She corrected herself during the late Sunday news media briefing.
“In any situation like this, there’s information flying around. We had an initial report that two suspects might’ve been taken into custody and that ended up being untrue,” said Wilson.
There were also contradictions between the mayor and police officials about Seattle Center surveillance cameras.
On Sunday, Davis said: “There are no cameras that I’m aware of that are posted where this shooting occurred.”
A few minutes later, Wilson said: “My understanding is that there are cameras in Seattle Center and we’re working to see if any relevant footage is on those cameras.”
During a Monday morning news conference, Chief Shon Barnes said: “I do not know if we have video of it. I have not had a briefing on that just yet.”
Wilson stepped in: “I’ve been told that Seattle Center does have cameras and we are in the process of pulling that footage.”
Oddly, about an hour after the Monday City Hall briefing, court documents became public that included previously undisclosed information from SPD that the person in custody and one of the deceased had “engaged in a gunfight with at least one other unknown suspect.”
While Wilson defended not using the AlertSeattle emergency notification system on Sunday evening, protocols revised in 2015 reveal SPD could have activated texts and emails under an “active shooter” scenario, which, for a time on Sunday, the situation certainly was.
Earlier this year, Wilson told The Times editorial board that her top three priorities were “homelessness, homelessness, homelessness.”
As a big city mayor, it’s not always easy to set the agenda.
The Bite of Seattle shooting underscores that public safety crises can arise at any moment. Right now, the Mayor’s Office has no permanent communications team and is looking for a communications director on Facebook. The entire staff is thin on people who have experience working through civic emergencies.
When asked about the communications snafus at a Tuesday news conference, Wilson said: “This is a work in progress. We will be continuing to improve.”
City Hall veterans say there are a few fundamentals. Mayors need to be visible, but first responders ought to take the lead in sharing information with the public and press. They should focus on facts, outline what’s known and not known, tell people whether they should shelter in place or avoid a specific area, and let them know when conditions change.
These are simple, basic tactics. But if not performed well, city officials can trip over themselves, leading to another sort of crisis — of confidence.
