Seattle’s City Attorney’s Office is adding two prosecutors to tackle gun violence and alleged sex trafficking along Aurora Avenue, where residents say shootings and commercial sexual exploitation continue to disrupt homes and businesses.
One prosecutor will work with the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office as a cross-deputised official, allowing the city to assist with both misdemeanour and felony cases involving pimps, sex buyers and human traffickers.
The second will lead a new firearms unit focused on extreme risk protection orders. The civil court orders can be used to remove guns from people considered a significant threat to themselves or others.
City Attorney Erika Evans said the appointments would give Seattle a greater role in cases traditionally handled at county level.
“Normally the City Attorney’s role stops at misdemeanours, but these two new city prosecutor positions will mean we can also contribute to work normally handled at the felony level,” she said.
The firearms prosecutor is expected to work alongside the Regional Domestic Violence Firearms Enforcement Unit. Officials say the approach is intended to disarm people involved in violence along the Aurora Avenue corridor, rather than relying solely on criminal convictions.
The move has the backing of Mayor Katie Wilson, who included funding for both posts in her proposed budget despite a general fund shortfall. King County Prosecuting Attorney Leesa Manion and Seattle Police Department interim chief Andre Sayles have also supported the partnership.
Ms Manion said the sexual exploitation of children and vulnerable adults along Aurora Avenue was unacceptable and that prosecutors needed every available resource to pursue those profiting from it.
Officials acknowledge that trafficking cases can be difficult to bring. Over the past five years, an average of six cases a year in Seattle met the evidentiary threshold for charges, according to the City Attorney’s Office.
Residents remain cautious about whether the additional prosecutors will bring a swift improvement. Recent gunfire near the avenue has reinforced concerns that earlier promises to improve public safety have yet to deliver lasting change.
Rudy Pantoja, a local resident, said he had “high expectations” that businesses and homes would be safe and that police would respond when needed. Neighbours say they want the violence and exploitation along Aurora Avenue to stop, even if there is no single solution.
