Seattle mayor funds new grocery store security program

Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson has approved a $1.7 million grocery-support package that includes money for security upgrades, facility repairs and technical assistance for independent grocery stores, as the city continues to grapple with retail theft, break-ins and vandalism at neighborhood markets.

Ms. Wilson, a self-described socialist elected mayor in November 2025, folded the funding into a broader grocery-support initiative included in the city’s 2026 budget. In a social media post Monday, she said the effort is “essential to making sure every Seattleite has a reliable, affordable grocery store near them.”

Under the plan, the city’s Office of Economic Development will work with 10 independently owned grocers, offering technical assistance and facility-improvement funds. A separate share of the money will go toward one-time security upgrades and repairs for stores hit hardest by theft. The city will partner with the Independent Grocers Alliance on the effort and commission a retailer study to guide future policy.

One example the city points to is Lam’s Seafood Asian Market, a longtime Chinatown-International District grocer that is preparing to open a third location in a long-vacant Rainier Valley storefront, with city permitting help and security funding tied to the buildout. Owner David Tran said the city’s money covers “essential security upgrades to assist us in creating a brighter, more welcoming storefront.”

The spending has drawn fire from conservative critics who argue it treats a symptom of crime rather than the cause. Seattle-based KTTH host Jason Rantz told Fox News Digital that helping businesses absorb losses from theft is “a bandage on a bullet wound,” arguing the city should instead fully staff and fund its police department.

The new package builds on a smaller effort: Former Mayor Bruce Harrell had proposed $1 million for grocery-store security in his own 2026 budget, aimed at retail theft, property damage and related crimes. Seattle police recorded nearly 7,500 larceny-theft offenses across the city’s five precincts through May, the most commonly reported crime category in every precinct. Separately, the department’s officer count fell from 1,424 in 2019 to 1,054 in 2024, a period that overlapped with the city council’s 2020 push to cut police funding amid the Black Lives Matter movement, according to the mayor’s office.