SEATTLE — Hundreds of people and more than 100 organizations are calling on Seattle City Leaders to redirect part of the proposed funding increase to Seattle Police to fund arts and culture programs instead.
In Mayor Katie Wilson’s proposed budget, where the city faces a $175 million deficit, Wilson proposed increasing SPD’s budget by $68 million to continue growing sworn officer ranks and fund 66 officers.
In a letter with the number of signers growing every day, Julie Chang Shulman argues the city should take $8 million of the proposed increase to Seattle Police and use it to fund arts programs instead.
“This letter got started because I didn’t want our city to miss this opportunity,” Chang Shulman said, “While the issue of public safety is such a huge part of the discourse, leaving the impact of art and culture out of this conversation would have been a tragedy.”
More than 115 organizations have signed on to the letter, along with more than 800 people so far.
In it, Chang Shulman points to the $3.6 million available for art installations and activations during the FIFA World Cup.
During that month, there were no homicides in June for the first time in around five decades.
She also links to research showing that activating vacant areas and funding nonprofits for neighborhood development help reduce crime.
Chang Shulman hopes the $8 million she is calling for would also partially fund research to determine how effective art activations are at reducing crime, specifically in Seattle.
“When you have people outside doing things, you have a natural activity generation. You have what they call natural surveillance,” Chang Shulman said. “Surveillance is such a hot issue, but what happens when it comes to natural surveillance is you have an organic sense of belonging, a sense of community, sense of accountability that is rooted in real relationships.”
The lack of grant money from FIFA brings Seattle’s overall contribution to arts and culture down $2.1 million from 2026, if the Mayor’s proposal goes through as finalized.
Her office points out that the mayor is calling for increases for some grants, funding an art installation at King Street Station, and increasing money for educational opportunities.
Chang Shulman says the investment she’s calling for is needed to make a lasting impact across the city.
“It’s always been an area that has been underfunded and under support, so we are talking about resourcing folks who are used to doing things with nothing, and so it really does create a huge, not only just the opportunity, but a sense of hope,” she said.
The proposal is likely going to be a tough sell.
City Councilmember Bob Kettle has already said in a letter that Wilson’s proposal for increased police funding doesn’t go far enough.
“Capping our police staffing levels at numbers not seen in over 15 years poses a direct threat to our public safety posture and leaves our deployable force stretched unacceptably thin relative to our city’s growing population,” Kettle wrote.