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Police rifle practice can be heard in Rainier Beach and South Park. Lin wants $500,000 to quiet it

Two proposals for Thursday's budget session would buy rifle suppressors and noise barriers for the range SPD uses. The District 2 councilmember's office has been working on the issue since summer.

By Seattle Politics staffUpdated

If you live in Rainier Beach, South Beacon Hill or South Park and have heard bursts of rifle fire with no explanation, some of it may be police training. Two budget proposals going before the City Council on Thursday aim to make that quieter.

Eddie Lin, who represents District 2, filed both items for the Oct. 29 Select Budget Committee meeting, with Rob Saka of District 1 and Robert Kettle as co-sponsors, according to Central Staff's police proposal packet. Together they would cost $500,000 in one-time General Fund money in 2027.

What residents have been hearing

The range is an outdoor facility in Tukwila, operated by the Seattle Police Athletic Association, where SPD trains with rifles. In June, the South Seattle Emerald reported that Rainier Beach families could hear the shots and could not always tell whether they meant violence nearby or police target practice. A column in the same outlet described the uncertainty in a neighborhood that has had real shootings.

The Council packet uses similar language: residents have reported that the sound can be "disruptive, traumatizing," and can raise fears that an active shooter is in the area.

The two proposals

SPD-106-A: $400,000 for rifle suppressors. The money would buy suppressors for rifles used at the range or in the field, or new rifles or parts needed to use them. A proviso would bar spending it on anything else. Central Staff notes that suppressors reduce but do not eliminate the sound, and do nothing about handguns. They would also reduce noise exposure for officers and range staff. The mayor's budget has no money for this.

SPD-107-A: $100,000 for noise barriers. The money would pay for sound-absorbing panels, insulation or trees at the range. Unlike suppressors, barriers would dampen noise from all firearms, including handguns, the packet says, and the two items are meant to work together.

Both are one-time costs in 2027 only.

What our records add

The two districts that hear it. Rainier Beach and Beacon Hill are in Lin's District 2; South Park is in Saka's District 1. Both members are on the proposals. In the Thursday packets, Lin filed 10 items, tied for the most of the day, and these are two of his three police items. The third, SPD-108-A, would set aside $100,000 of SPD's existing overtime budget for two officers to provide security at City Council and Public Safety Committee meetings.

A small ask in a crowded budget. The $500,000 is small next to the roughly $32.6 million in 2027 General Fund asks filed for Thursday, but every addition competes for the same limited money. PubliCola reported that the Council has identified about $26 million to pay for new spending, against asks that topped $80 million before Thursday's departments.

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