In light of recent violence in Belltown, including a deadly shooting June 6, followed by an unrelated, non-fatal shooting Sunday, a couple hundred people showed up to the Belltown Citizens on Patrol ("BCOP") meeting Tuesday to hear from Chief Diaz and other law & order players. It was standing room only, but most of the night focused more on parking enforcement and drug crime than about the shootings or the new nightlife patroling initiative Diaz and the mayor announced during an earlier press conference.

The new initiative, which Diaz went over briefly, will use a combination of bike, foot and car patrols to focus on the heavy pedestrian traffic after bar close on weekend nights. The increase in bar close patrols will be in place for at least the duration of the summer starting this weekend. The new patrols will come from within the department and no new money has been allocated.

The biggest applause for any question asked all evening came when BCOP leader Brett Paulson asked, "Why are there more parking enforcement officers than bike patrol officers?" The answer, of course, is that that unit pays or iteself, said Diaz.

UPDATE: Description of the initiative from the SPD Blotter

The redeployment of these additional resources will provide approximately 20-plus officers downtown on Friday and Saturday nights with the specific mission of maintaining a visible and uniformed presence to deter crime and promote safety.  Neighborhoods outside of dowtown can expect 4-6 more uniformed officers working in a similar capacity.   The plan is for officers to be where the people are.  The hope is that the additional uniformed patrols will encourage citizens from all over Puget Sound to visit popular Seattle destination points and do so without fear of harm.