Posted on November 25, 2020

Seattle Sees Dozens of Cops Leave Force as Council ‘Defunds Police’

Jon Brown, Daily Wire, November 24, 2020

The Seattle City Council voted Monday to cut the Seattle Police Department’s (SPD) budget as the force hemorrhages officers at a historic rate.

The city council voted 8-1 to reduce the SPD budget by 18%, which falls far below the 50% that activists were demanding, according to local KOMO News.

Such a move will leave many vacant jobs on the force unfilled and require 911 dispatchers and parking enforcement to be moved outside of SPD jurisdiction. As of Oct. 31, 134 officers have left the force, according to the mayor’s office. In October alone, 23 have thrown in the towel.

{snip}

Nikkita Oliver, a radical Black Lives Matter activist who played a leadership role in city’s short-lived Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (or CHAZ) last summer, said during a virtual meeting after the vote:

These are all really exciting things that have been won after many, many years of mobilizing and partnering together. They’ve been won because of the uprising and defense of Black lives, and the many people who put their feet to the ground, who have made calls, sent emails, and organized their communities.

Mike Solan, the president of the Seattle Police Officers Guild (SPOG), was less enthusiastic about the decision, calling the city council “naïve” and warning that response to 911 calls will take longer.

“You’re going to see crime rise, we’re already seeing increased homicide rates that we haven’t seen in decades,” Solan said.

{snip}