Everett Mayor Cassie Franklin during a 2019 budget rollout.
Photo by Michael Whitney.
EVERETT — Mayor Cassie Franklin announced a renewed directive to address youth safety as part of her eighth State of the City speech Thursday, March 27 in APEX Everett.
The focus on youth is four prongs: To have police increase early intervention to cut violence against youth, to reinforce partnerships with schools and organizations and fight for legislative actions to protect victims, to increase public outreach and programs for youth, and to continue seeking technology that reduces crime.
The directive calls for items such as increasing the number of School Resource Officers embedded in schools, building out its Community Watch program, advocating for stricter firearm regulations and looking to be better equipped for youth mental health needs.
Inside its offices, Everett will create a Youth Violence Internal Workgroup as one piece of establishing youth safety as a citywide priority.
“My vision for our city is bold, ambitious, and clear: we are building the best city in America to run a business, raise a family, pursue an education, build a career and enjoy a high quality of life,” Franklin said in her speech, adding that “We are tackling today’s issues head-on through innovative partnerships, strategic investments and strong advocacy.”
Franklin also highlighted recent park improvements, library programs, and that the city is launching its ‘Drone as a First Responder’ pilot program to deploy police drones to incident scenes ahead of ground units. The city says it is cutting-edge technology.
“We are funding more officer positions per capita than any comparable city across our state — more than Kent, Bellevue or even Seattle,” Franklin said.
She also called the removals of the Waits Motel and the gazebo at Clark Park neighborhood safety actions.
A video of the full speech, hosted by the Greater Everett Chamber of Commerce, is available at www.everettwa.gov/sotc
