The Seattle Police Department intends to hire more than 140 police officers, Alex Hudson, interim press secretary for Mayor Katie Wilson, told JNS. The move comes as anti-Jewish hate crimes more than doubled in the city in 2026, and the mayor, who has said she is a democratic socialist, told JNS exclusively that she pledged more security for Jews during the High Holidays.
“The mayor’s proposed 2027 and 2028 budget continues funding the expansion of the police force,” Hudson told JNS. “Seattle will see more police officers on the streets in 2027 than in 2026.”
According to official city data, almost 20% of hate crimes in the city in 2026 targeted Jews, who make up about 1% of those living in the Seattle metro area.
Jennifer Sullivan, executive director of communications for the Seattle Police Department, told JNS that the department “regularly evaluates the best locations to deploy officers and specialty teams, including bikes,” and the department “has historically had an increased visibility around synagogues and other places of worship during religious holidays.”
Wilson, who first addressed Jew-hatred in the city in August in response to a JNS query, is expanding the police department as part of a gun violence plan, which she announced on Tuesday.
The plan “brings together community violence intervention, emergency response, social services, law enforcement resources and regional partnerships under unified leadership for the first time,” she said.
The mayor recently dismissed the city’s police chief after a July 26 shooting at the Bite of Seattle festival in Seattle Center. The mayor’s office told JNS last month that it was too soon to say if it would consult Jewish leaders as part of its search for the new chief.
