SPD introduces new criminal trespass program

The Seattle Police Department has a new criminal trespass program, which replaces the old program to keep trespassers off the property of businesses that are open to the public .

The Conditions of Entry that must be posted under the new criminal trespass program

At Wednesday’s Ballard District Council meeting, Officer Scott McGlashan explained the program. He says that an interested business must sign up with SPD and post Conditions of Entry “at or near all public entrances and other areas so the public is provided with notice of those conditions,” the enforcement authorization form states.

“I’ve been getting definitely increases in complaints about trespassing and the homeless,” McGlashan says. Under this new program, police can “warn someone off the property” at any time – the enforcement authorization form allows officers to come onto the property without further consent by the business owner.

One of the big changes is that if a person is “warned off the property,” they can come back to the same establishment the next day as a paying customer. Under the old program, McGlashan says that a person who had been admonished off the property could never go back, or they’d wind up in jail. The new warnings do last for a lifetime, so if a person has been warned, they cannot loiter or trespass at that establishment without facing police action.

Businesses interested in being part of the program can contact Officer Scott McGlashan of the Ballard Community Police Team at scott.mcglashan@seattle.gov or 206-233-3733. If a business was part of the old program, they must sign the new authorization form.