So far in 2025, Seattle is on track for a decline in homicides for the second year in a row. 

The city’s finally catching up to other parts of the country that started to see drops in lethal violence a few years ago, according to a new story published in The Seattle Times. 

The country saw a surge in homicides when the pandemic hit. Seattle was no exception, and the violence continued. The city experiencing one of its deadliest years on record in 2023. 

But lately things have been trending in a safer direction for the city and King County as a whole.  

Guest:
Sara Jean Green, reporter at The Seattle Times.

Related stories: 
Seattle is seeing fewer homicides, catching up with national trend | The Seattle Times 
KUOW - Seattle passes grim milestone with record high homicides | KUOW  
Seattle had 'highest number of murders in 26 years' in 2020 | MyNorthwest 

Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes.

Soundside is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network.

So far in 2025, Seattle is on track for a decline in homicides for the second year in a row.&nbsp;
The city&rsquo;s finally catching up to other parts of the country that started to see drops in lethal violence a few years ago, according to a new story published in The Seattle Times.&nbsp;
The country saw <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/24/us/murders-crime-us-covid-19.html">a surge in homicides</a> when the pandemic hit. <a href="https://mynorthwest.com/local/year-end-crime-data-2020-seattle-homicides/2446698">Seattle was no exception</a>, and the violence continued. The city experiencing one of its deadliest years on record in 2023.&nbsp;
But lately things have been trending in a safer direction for the city and King County as a whole.&nbsp;&nbsp;
Guest:
<ul>
<li>Sara Jean Green, reporter at The Seattle Times.</li>
</ul>
Related stories:&nbsp;
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/law-justice/seattle-is-seeing-fewer-homicides-catching-up-with-national-trend/">Seattle is seeing fewer homicides, catching up with national trend | The Seattle Times</a>&nbsp;</li>
<li><a href="https://www.kuow.org/stories/seattle-passes-grim-milestone-with-record-high-homicides">KUOW - Seattle passes grim milestone with record high homicides | KUOW</a> &nbsp;</li>
<li><a href="https://mynorthwest.com/local/year-end-crime-data-2020-seattle-homicides/2446698">Seattle had 'highest number of murders in 26 years' in 2020 | MyNorthwest</a>&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
Thank you to the supporters of KUOW, you help make this show possible! If you want to help out, go to&nbsp;<a href="http://kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes" data-stringify-link="http://kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes" data-sk="tooltip_parent">kuow.org/donate/soundsidenotes.</a>
Soundside&nbsp;is a production of KUOW in Seattle, a proud member of the NPR Network.

Soundside

So far in 2025, Seattle is on track for a decline in homicides for the second year in a row.  Sara Jean Green tells us about her recent story in the Seattle Times about this decrease in lethal violence.

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