Billed as the '' summer of fun ''...
As Seattle residents reel from one of the deadliest weekends in recent memory, Mayor Jenny Durkan is sounding the alarms. She says the city needs more police, a message she’s been reticent to deliver publicly due to toxic politics and a militant activist base.
Thanks to a defund movement that is still alive and well, the Seattle Police Department is down nearly a third of its force. And the city is left without the law enforcement support it needs to keep residents safe. Combined with prosecutors who lean into far-left views that the criminal justice system is racist, so they won’t prosecute, criminals are running wild with little fear of consequences for their deadly behavior.
The painful reality is the situation is likely to get much worse before we see relief. It’s not even clear yet if residents are ready to acknowledge the crisis. Several anti-police voices head into Tuesday’s primary with winds at their sails. And Durkan is a lame-duck Mayor as she announced months ago that she wasn’t running for reelection.
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Durkan’s message is not only too little, too late, but it’s falling on deaf ears as the Seattle City Council continues its defunding efforts. Next week the Council is expected to reroute some $14 million from the Seattle Police Department budget.
SEATTLE MAYOR CALLS FOR MORE POLICE AFTER SIX SHOOTINGS IN ONE WEEKEND
"As a city, we cannot continue on this current trajectory of losing police officers," Durkan warned during a Monday press conference. "Over the past 17 months, the Seattle Police Department has lost 250 police officers which is the equivalent of over 300,000 service hours. We’re on path to losing 300 police officers."
The city is closer to 300 than the mayor is letting on.
Officers that are leaving and still on the payroll are not included in staffing data. As of May, there were over 100 officers unavailable for deployment, according to an internal document I acquired. Many of the officers on the list, sources confirmed, are burning through vacation and sick time that they earned. The fear is that up to half of those officers will not return to work.
As Seattle residents reel from one of the deadliest weekends in recent memory, Mayor Jenny Durkan is sounding the alarms. She says the city needs more police, a message she’s been reticent to deliver publicly due to toxic politics and a militant activist base.
Thanks to a defund movement that is still alive and well, the Seattle Police Department is down nearly a third of its force. And the city is left without the law enforcement support it needs to keep residents safe. Combined with prosecutors who lean into far-left views that the criminal justice system is racist, so they won’t prosecute, criminals are running wild with little fear of consequences for their deadly behavior.
The painful reality is the situation is likely to get much worse before we see relief. It’s not even clear yet if residents are ready to acknowledge the crisis. Several anti-police voices head into Tuesday’s primary with winds at their sails. And Durkan is a lame-duck Mayor as she announced months ago that she wasn’t running for reelection.
\
Durkan’s message is not only too little, too late, but it’s falling on deaf ears as the Seattle City Council continues its defunding efforts. Next week the Council is expected to reroute some $14 million from the Seattle Police Department budget.
SEATTLE MAYOR CALLS FOR MORE POLICE AFTER SIX SHOOTINGS IN ONE WEEKEND
"As a city, we cannot continue on this current trajectory of losing police officers," Durkan warned during a Monday press conference. "Over the past 17 months, the Seattle Police Department has lost 250 police officers which is the equivalent of over 300,000 service hours. We’re on path to losing 300 police officers."
The city is closer to 300 than the mayor is letting on.
Officers that are leaving and still on the payroll are not included in staffing data. As of May, there were over 100 officers unavailable for deployment, according to an internal document I acquired. Many of the officers on the list, sources confirmed, are burning through vacation and sick time that they earned. The fear is that up to half of those officers will not return to work.
, great scene though
