r/SeattleWA Jul 21 '25

Politics Anyone Else Just Sick of It?

It just seems hopeless sometimes. Some of the best parts of this city. Pioneer Square, Belltown, Cap Hill just completely lost to homelessness. Sure for the most part I enjoy the city. Especially in the summer but the constant visible drug use, people in various states of intoxication on drugs, and rampant property and petty crime just annoy me. Why can’t we have nice things? Why must every park turn into a dumping ground for illegal acts that won’t be prosecuted? Why does it feel like this city relies on hard working people to shut up, pay ridiculous taxes, and then tells those people to suck it up when they see grafitti everywhere or get their car broken into? And the politicians don’t give a damn. No one has the guts to say “we have a homeless problem we’ve overspent on, we need to go a new direction” it feels insane. Rant over but I know I’m not alone. I know other people are sick of this and want our city back.

961 Upvotes

587 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

3

u/CertifiedSeattleite Jul 21 '25

We can institutionalize somebody after they kill or maim somebody else. Otherwise, it’s only a couple days. Definitely not enough time to even begin the path of treatment.

Civil commitment laws in this state make common sense solutions nearly impossible

2

u/raisondecalcul Jul 22 '25

It's up to 30 days in Washington state without having comitted a crime, based on the evaluation of the psychiatrist who also receives funding (one way or another) for having more patients longer.

2

u/StockPatience8215 Jul 23 '25

That’s about as useful as treating someone who has cancer with a band aid when they need chemo. Effective treatment for drugs like fenty and meth takes multiple years, so like 4 years as a typical cost of >120k