Resolution in Support of the Services Not Sweeps Coalition

February 20, 2025

WHEREAS, The City of Seattle has been in an official state of emergency around the crisis of homelessness since 2015, with the number of people experiencing homelessness increasing ever since, including in 2024 where King County reported over 16,000 people experiencing homelessness, an increase of 21% from 2022,

WHEREAS, The city of Seattle has used encampment removals (sweeps) as a tool to mitigate visible homelessness throughout this entire period, with over 2800 sweeps happening in 2023 alone, at a cost estimated between $26 and $38 million in just one year,

WHEREAS, A 2023 study has shown that sweeps and other forms of involuntary displacement orders contribute to an increase in hospitalization, initial use of drugs, overdose, and death amongst people who experience them by as much as 24%,

WHEREAS, 2023 was the deadliest year on record for people living outside in King County, with at least 415 unhoused people dying that the medical examiner is aware of, and a disproportionate number of those individuals dying during the winter months and during severe weather events,

WHEREAS, a King County superior court judge has ruled that many sweeps the city is performing are unconstitutional and amount to cruel and unusual punishment,

WHEREAS, sweeps not only harm individuals experiencing them but also disrupt direct service providers’ efforts to connect clients with supportive services. Providers often lose track of clients or find that clients have lost important paperwork or IDs during sweeps, forcing them to restart intake processes.

WHEREAS, this campaign is supported by organizations such as the National Homelessness Law Center, the Washington State Lived Experience Coalition, Disability Rights Washington, the Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility, Real Change, 350 Seattle, the Sierra Club of Washington, and our labor partners at OPEIU local 8, SEIU 775, IATSE Local 15, Unite Here Local 8 and UAW 4121, amongst many other organizations,

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, the MLK Labor Council will endorse the Services Not Sweeps Coalition’s campaign to ban sweeps during the winter and during severe weather events and redirect those funds to supportive services that move people inside and keep them housed.