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Seattle is Dying | A KOMO News Documentary

KOMO News · 20.1M views · 2019-03-19 · 1:00:36

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Overview

A one-hour 2019 KOMO News documentary hosted by Eric Johnson on Seattle's homelessness and drug crisis, with interviews and looks at proposed solutions including a drug court program in Rhode Island. It argues addiction and mental illness are at the core of the problem.

On Hacker News

HN commenters cite it in homelessness threads about San Francisco and Seattle as an eye-opening, widely viewed argument for treatment-first policy, though some see it as pro-law-enforcement framing.

Recommended by 10 HN people across 8 months · HN mentions 2019–2024

Topics

Social issues & cultureMedia, journalism & propagandaLaw, policing & justice
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homelessnessaddictionseattledrug policylocal news

What people said

j8hn · 2021-08 · Strong recommendation

I don't have any experience with the housing issue in California, but got involved a while back trying to find pragmatic solutions in Seattle. The situation is a mess and there is an entire "homeless industrial complex" complicating matters here, rife with fraud, misspending and cronyism. Every year it seems like many millions of dollars more are spent on this issue but it keeps getting visibly worse. At first I was in the "Housing First" crowd, but after my experiences I would say I more firmly believe in "Rehab First". A local news station released a great documentary called "Seattle is Dying". It has 10 million views since released a couple of years ago. [VIDEO] The sequel is "The Fight For the Soul of Seattle". [LINK]

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henryl · 2019-08 · Strong recommendation

“Seattle Is Dying” is a great investigative report about the problems and potential solutions to homelessness. Also applicable to SF. [VIDEO]

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PKop · 2024-04 · Recommendation

I don't understand how any of you can see this as a lack of will from police rather than political policy coming from above them. Here is thorough documentary outlining over and over again police prevented from enforcing law by politicians, who also don't charge or incarcerate criminals who cops arrest repeatedly. [VIDEO] Similar policies exist in other cities like San Francisco.

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Sources

Video by KOMO News, played through YouTube.

Data and selection notes

HN summaries and labels may contain AI errors. HN dates refer to discussions, not video publication.

HN Library: HackerTube export (2026-10-31) and open-index/hacker-news. Upstream summaries and classifications may contain AI errors.

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