SEATTLE — A key Seattle City Councilmember is backing the idea of an independent review of emergency communications following a shooting at the Bite of Seattle festival that left three people dead and four others injured.
The decision follows a five-hour delay in releasing official information to the public and news media after the gunfire erupted.
Mayor Katie Wilson announced that all city departments, including the Seattle Police Department, will cooperate with the independent review to determine if safety information should have been released sooner.
The review comes after Seattle City Councilmember Bob Kettle called for systemic changes, stating that long delays in information during a public emergency cannot happen again.
Kettle is the chair of the Public Safety Committee for the Seattle City Council.
Law enforcement officers were present in the immediate area when the shooting occurred at 6:01 p.m. at Seattle Center on July 26.
Kettle publicized and shared his own timeline of response to the shooting incident that day. It listed that he was there by 7:20 p.m. but had already made and received several phone calls and communications regarding the shooting before even arriving.
Kettle noted that city agencies faced obvious communication hurdles but also said info should have gotten out sooner.
“It should have happened, and obviously SPD has its view, and the mayor’s office has its view; there’s definitely a communications challenge,” Kettle said.
Kettle also stressed that basic info for the public, immediate info on dangers and response and info to help the public should be part of one track of info that should be released immediately, while operations logistics and inside info for city officials, Seattle police and other public officials should be part of a separate track of info in response to a crisis and probably should not hinder the release of info to the general public.
“Basically ‘just the facts, ma’am’ kind of information for the press separate from the higher level the political and individuals like that,” Kettle said. “There should be a two-tier system SPD should be able to put just the facts out kind of release, and then there are the bigger picture pieces.”
Interim Seattle Police Department Chief Andre Sayles defended the Police Department’s handling of information during a City Council public safety committee meeting.
Sayles emphasized that early details during active incidents remain fluid.
“We have to keep in mind these are stressful situations; the radio comms and the communication that we have is going to be fluid information; it can change at a moment,” Sayles said.
Kettle also advocated for operating security cameras during major events at Seattle Center and other locations where large-scale events happen to maintain public safety.
While Mayor Wilson has expressed opposition to mass surveillance, Kettle noted that security cameras should be deployed based on crime data and event scale.
“Just like our current CCTV program is based on crime data, it needs to be tailored, so this is tailored to major venues, major events,” Kettle said.
Regarding the future of the festival, Kettle voiced support for continuing the event.
“I have not heard from anybody related to BOS. My view is we need to come back with BOS; not only that, we should come back stronger, better, safer,” Kettle said.
Several Inquiries over the course of several weeks sent to event organizer Foodieland (owner of the Bite of Seattle Festival) regarding the incident response, the shooting and future event plans received no response.
Foodieland has only posted a statement that appears on its website linked to the Bite of Seattle and has a statement on its Facebook page. It has not responded to inquiries from KIRO 7.
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