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Report: More than 11,600 people homeless in King County

In this photo taken Thursday, March 23, 2017, Seattle police officers Wes Phillips, left, and Tori Newborn talk with Corvin Dobschutz as part of a new team of outreach workers and officers that go out and connect homeless people to services, as the homeless man sits in his tent below a freeway and next to downtown Seattle. (Elaine Thompson / Associated Press)
Associated Press

SEATTLE – A newly released report says more than 11,600 people were homeless in Seattle and King County on a single night in January.

Multiple news outlets said the annual report released Wednesday showed 5,485 of the people counted were living in tent encampments, on the streets or in vehicles while the others were living in shelters or transitional housing.

The total shows an increase of nearly 1,000 people compared to last year, but the director of the group that organizes the count, Mark Putnam, says differences in methodology make comparisons to last year challenging.

Putnam says the increase is partially due to improved methods for collecting data and an overall rise in the number of homeless.

Seattle Mayor Ed Murray and King County Executive Dow Constantine declared a state of emergency over homelessness In November 2015.