Seattle, WA
Seattle Police: 2025 year in review shows some crime numbers dropping
SEATTLE – The Seattle Police Department released its 2025 crime stats Monday afternoon during its annual year in review.
The announcement comes on the heels of the traumatic shooting in Rainier Beach that left two Seattle Public School students dead Friday afternoon.
What they’re saying:
Seattle Police Chief Shon Barnes paused briefly to acknowledge the pain felt by the community. He said that the city still has a lot of work to do to improve safety, though he’s encouraged that violent crime numbers had dropped in 2025.
“Two Rainier Beach High School students were tragically shot and killed near a bus stop, just steps away from what has always been off limits, a public school,” said SPD Chief Barnes.
Seattle Police Chief Shon Barnes speaks on the fatal shooting of two Rainier Beach High School students.
The chief took a moment Monday to remember the teens who were shot and killed near Rainier High School. Friends and loved ones gathered near the site for several emotional vigils this past weekend.
“Less than 48 hours later, another young man was killed after a party. Three others were hospitalized after being shot. Their losses underscore the truth that we cannot ignore,” said Barnes.
Despite the devastation caused by the latest round of gun violence, Barnes says the analysis of 2025 crime numbers is providing some hope for a less violent future.
“Today I stand here encouraged,” Barnes said.
By the numbers:
The chief released the department’s year in review Monday, saying there was a 36% reduction in homicides in 2025, with 21 fewer lives lost, the lowest number since the pandemic.
2025 Homicides – SPD Year in Review
- 36% reduction in homicides
- 21 fewer lives lost than in the year before
- Lowest number of homicides since before the pandemic
He also said SPD reported that of those cases, many were solved. He said in 2025, they had a homicide clearance rate of 86% compared to just 57% in 2024.
The numbers also included a 36% reduction in people struck by gunfire, and an 8% drop in aggravated assaults, a 24% reduction in reports of stolen vehicles and a large increase in firearms recovered.
Crime Stats
- Reduction in people struck by gunfire by 36%
- Reduction in aggravated assault by 8%
- Reduction in stolen vehicles by 24%
- 1,500 firearms recovered (an increase of 74%)
“In 2025, we saw an 18% reduction in the overall reduction in crime in our city,” Barnes said.
Barnes said a focus on retention and recruitment also paid off in 2025, with more than 160 officers hired along with a reduced number of separations.
2025 Retention & Recruitment
- Hired 167 officers in 2025
- More officers hired than at any other time
- SPD reduced number of officer separations
“This is not a victory lap, this is the first lap in a long marathon to work toward public safety,” Barnes said.
He says they also used neighborhood policing officers to curtail crime in targeted areas and focused on analyzing who was committing the most crimes when it came to gun violence, including juvenile offenders.
“We were only looking at four or more incidents where this person was caught with a gun within 18 months, and that list is about 60 people, and we have to figure out, how do we connect with them and get them on the right path?”
Barnes said the city will also install more cameras in the area of Capitol Hill near Garfield High School and in Pioneer Square, bringing the total number to around 62 located throughout the community.
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The Source: Information in this story came from the Seattle Police Department and FOX 13 Seattle reporting.
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Thanks to Carrie Brown for the westward view of our Saturday night sunset. The high today hit 68 at the airport – eight degrees above normal – but nowhere near the record for this date, which was 89 degrees back in 2016. The forecast suggests two more days of partly sunny, almost-70-degree weather, before the chance of rain returns.
CHICAGO (AP) — The struggling New York Mets placed former Seattle Mariners second baseman/designated hitter Jorge Polanco on the 10-day injured list on Saturday with a right wrist contusion.
Mariners Injury Update: Latest on Robles, Vargas and more
The move was made retroactive to Wednesday, a day after Polanco went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts in a 2-1 loss at the Los Angeles Dodgers. The 32-year-old Polanco is batting .179 (10 for 56) with a homer and two RBIs in his first season with New York, which has lost nine straight.
“When doctors first took a look at him, it looked like he got hit by a pitch when he didn’t,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “In talking to him, it was just a couple of swings that he took that night. … He didn’t think much of it, but just got worse the following day.
“So you just got to let it calm down a little bit and then we’ll go from there. But we don’t have a timetable for how long this is going to last.”
Polanco, who signed a two-year, $40 million contract with the Mets in December, also has been dealing with an ankle issue.
“He was trending in the right direction,” Mendoza said of the ankle injury. “It’s definitely going to help, obviously now with him being shut down. But the biggest thing now is that we’ve got to take care of that wrist.”
Polanco spent the previous two seasons with the Mariners, who acquired him in a February 2024 trade with the Minnesota Twins.
Polanco struggled during his first season with Seattle in 2024, hitting just .213 with 16 homers in 118 games while playing through a knee injury that didn’t become public knowledge until after the season.
But after the Mariners somewhat surprisingly brought him back for a one-year contract in 2025, Polanco rebounded to hit .265 with 26 homers and an .821 OPS in 138 games last season. He then added three homers during Seattle’s playoff run, along with a 15th-inning walkoff single in Game 5 of the American League Division Series that sent the Mariners to their first ALCS in 24 years.
Seattle Sports staff made additions to this post.
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