Seattle maps homeless encampments, but doesn't share sites they deem most hazardous

SEATTLE — City of Seattle leaders know of roughly 380 chronic homeless encampments across the city, but they don’t plan to immediately publicize their list -- or tell the public which camps they think are most hazardous.

KIRO 7 News staff talked with the mayor's homeless team on Thursday after launching a map with more than 35 confirmed homeless camps. The project, SeattleHomelessCamps.com, also received more than 300 currently unpublished submissions that need to be verified by KIRO 7 staff. The map, which initially showed specific addresses, now groups camps by neighborhood.

“We have a much better map than you,” said Scott Lindsay, public safety advisor for Mayor Ed Murray, addressing the KIRO 7 map that showed 35 verified homeless encampments. He said city data is shared with responders and outreach workers.

Lindsay said there may be more or less chronic homeless encampments depending on how they’re classified, and the top priorities are on a list of 40.

While discussing the top 40 priority list, Mayor Ed Murray’s staff did not specifically explain the known public safety risks at those sites. In general, they said high-priority sites have known hypodermic needle and waste concerns.

The city’s maps of the homeless crisis include specific addresses and those “will be addressed within a timely fashion,” Lindsay said.

An expensive problem to address

Murray's spokesman, Benton Strong, said the Seattle.gov/Homelessness is the best resource for updates on the city's homeless efforts. He explained that moving people into permanent housing is more important than just doing sweeps.

Resources for how to report encampments directly to the city are at the bottom of this article.

When the field near South Royal Brougham Way was cleared March 8, city workers found 500,000 pounds of debris, Lindsey said.

One worker who was cleaning out portable toilets had his waste removal hose clogged by a dead rat.

Also on March 8, Murray announced he wanted to raise property taxes through a voter-approved $275 million levy over five years, raising roughly $55 million per year. The effort is championed by entrepreneur Nick Hanauer.

Last fall, Murray proposed spending $12 million on the homelessness crisis. Despite a 40 percent spending increase already on homelessness since becoming mayor, Murray acknowledged then that more people are living on the streets.

On Thursday, Strong said Murray believes the problem did not come about overnight, and the solution won’t either.

KIRO 7’s homeless camp map

“Our website and series of stories about creating a map of homeless encampments in Seattle has generated significant and warranted conversation in Seattle and on social media,” News Director Jake Milstein said. “The data shows just how widespread the homeless encampment problem is across the city.”

“After spending hours talking to outside experts, we are updating the map to focus on the more generic area instead of specific locations.”

“Also, the Mayor’s Office has told us that the City does actually have maps showing the locations of the encampments, an important detail they would not previously disclose. We also provided all the data sent to KIRO 7 to the Mayor’s Office, as we said we would. The city assured us its maps had the same locations and they are aware of all of them.

"Because of the map on kiro7.com, we have now obtained previously unpublicized documents regarding the encampments. We will use those documents to create stories about how the City spends money on the homeless crisis.

“We want to thank the community for its response and we hope our reporting continues to generate conversation over this important issue.”

How to report homeless camps to the city

To report a homeless camp to Seattle city officials, call 206-684-2489.

People can also submit a service request form online.

Additional resources – and details on how to find shelters – are available here on the City of Seattle website.

Cox Media Group