Hundreds of people from across Tacoma gathered at the LeMay - America’s Car Museum on Wednesday night to raise the alarm on problems affecting their businesses.
From break-ins of employees’ cars to vandalism to homeless encampments, business owners demanded action from the city to address their concerns.in response to repeated complaints from business owners about crime and lack of police response.
Angela Connelly is a leader of Tacoma Safe and longtime Tacoma resident, married to well-known Tacoma attorney Jack Connelly. Connelly said Wednesday that the event is the beginning of a new path forward where the voices of business owners are going to be heard. She said business owners from across Tacoma were represented.
One of them was Jessica Johnston, director of Court House Square on A Street in downtown Tacoma. Court House Square is a historic building housing two restaurants, a coffee shop, a 2,000-square-foot ballroom, a large community space and dozens of local businesses. “How are we going to thrive and be the community that we can be — supporting commerce, supporting each other — without some sort of plan of attack?” she said.
He added that employees are having their cars broken into and are being harassed by people who are mentally ill and do not have a place to go. According to an end of year crime report from the Tacoma Police Department, the city saw an increase in both violent and property crimes in 2021 compared to 2020.
Tacoma Safe members say they also want to ensure that 911 calls are answered, police are dispatched when called and that it’s mandatory police take reports on every crime reported by businesses. They also want to see a police liaison officer to work directly with businesses. “When you call 911 and wait four or five hours for a response, is that acceptable? It’s not. We have failed you,” Betts said. “I can give you a list of excuses. I can talk about the pandemic. I can talk about police accountability. I can talk about the reduction in staffing. Do any of them change it when you wait four hours for a police officer to get there?”
“There’s homeless encampments, right where I want to do business,” said Michael Okoro, owner of Limitless Apparel on Hilltop. “If I look outside of my window, I can see people, abandoned cars, people sleeping, etc, etc. There’s more businesses in my area that have the same thing where they can’t feel safe during the day or at night.
“I think you can look around Yakima Avenue, different parts of our city, and conclude that there’s simply not enough shelter space or that the shelter space that is available, has too many requirements or too many restrictions,” Allen said. “It’s not a long term solution for those folks, which is why they end up back on the streets. And so I think it would be very difficult to prove. I think it’s theoretically possible to defend it, but I don’t think has the housing right now to do that.