City of Lynnwood Mayor Christine Frizzell sent a letter to the community Monday night addressing the city’s committment to safety in light of increasing crime, and asking residents for their ideas for ensuring Lynnwood is a safe and welcoming place for all people.

“The Spruce Park tragedy, compounded with the shooting death of a community member several months ago at Daleway Park, and too many reports of shootings and other acts of violence across our state and nation are unbearable, Frizzell wrote. “Our community deserves better.”

Here is the mayor’s full letter:

Dear Lynnwood Community Members,

I want to start by sending my deepest condolences to the families of the young men who were tragically killed last week in an incident at Spruce Park. No matter what the circumstances that led to this event, we are left reeling from the senseless loss of two young lives.

The Spruce Park tragedy, compounded with the shooting death of a community member several months ago at Daleway Park, and too many reports of shootings and other acts of violence across our state and nation are unbearable. Our community deserves better.

The City of Lynnwood is committed to being a safe and welcoming community for all people. We are taking actions to address increasing crime, we are offering programming and activating our parks and open spaces by inviting community members to join us at events, we are reaching out to our partner organizations to have critical conversations on how to move forward, together, to heal as a community.

We cannot deny the rippling consequences that the COVID pandemic has had on our community. We have all been impacted from isolation, loss of access and connections to resources, resulting in the extreme conditions we’ve been left to navigate. But we must, and we will, find a path forward. These incidents do not define us.

The City of Lynnwood is committed to being a partner in solution-finding. We need our community partners and organizations to join us, we need community to join us, and we need to work together to find solutions.

Here are some of the established programs and opportunities available from City of Lynnwood. We encourage you to join us in these efforts:

• Block Watch program, the Lynnwood Police Department’s Crime Prevention Unit can help you and your neighbors set up a Block Watch. For more information visit Organizing a Neighborhood Block Watch.
• National Night Out is coming up on August 2 – a night to join your neighbors and send a message that we are better and stronger together. We encourage you to join us for this neighborhood building, crime prevention event. For more information visit National Night Out 2022.
• Our Cops & Clergy program meets quarterly with local faith-based leaders with the goal of forming connections through our diverse religious communities. For more information visit Cops and Clergy.
• Addressing police staffing levels, recruiting, and filling vacancies – Currently the Police Department Administration is working hard to deploy resources effectively and efficiently to serve our community’s immediate needs. They are actively working to fill vacancies in order to assign resources back to community building activities. To address staffing levels, the City Council and I have recently approved the hiring of five additional police officers and the LPD is diligently working to recruit and fill those vacancies.
• Law enforcement partnerships – Lynnwood Police Department works closely with neighboring police departments, the Snohomish County Sherriff’s Office, as well as the Violent Offenders Task Force and other specialized units to actively address the insurgence of gang activity that has been occurring throughout the County.
• We are activating our parks and open spaces through summer event programing, and inviting community to join us in our parks. For more information visit the Community Events Calendar.
• Maintaining parks is also a top priority of our Parks Maintenance Crews. They are in our parks every day ensuring a safe environment, cleaning and removing any graffiti or nuisance issues. Additionally, our patrol officers make it a point to drive through our parks regularly to ensure the safety of park users.
• Collaboration – Mayor Frizzell will be meeting with the incoming Edmonds School District Superintendent, the Verdant Health Commission Superintendent and other local Mayor’s and CEOs to discuss a collaborative approach to community building.
• City council is discussing the idea of creating a Youth Advisory Council as a means to engage with our local youth.
• Be on the lookout for more initiatives and programs coming on line soon.

Unfortunately, these things won’t solve every problem, but it is a start. We want to hear from you. What other ideas do community members have that will help us work towards building a safe and welcoming community where all are able to live, work, play, and thrive?

Sincerely,

Mayor Christine Frizzell