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***Official Protest-RIOT Thread*** Police Officers fleeing Seattle and urban areas. (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Summer Wheat
- Start date
Summer Wheat
Footballguy
As crime levels in Seattle continue to climb to record highs, more police officers are fleeing the force for jobs in police departments outside the city, where politics may play less of a role in shaping law enforcement decisions.
More than 200 officers have left the Seattle Police Department in the past year, leaving staffing levels below what department leaders say are necessary, and the head of the police union fears that number could double by next year.
“I’m fearful that we could lose up to 400 people within a year’s time, and then, where does that put us in our community?” Mike Solan, the president of the Seattle Police Officer’s Guild, told the Washington Examiner.
“It would take decades to recover," he said.
The exodus fits with a nationwide trend of officers leaving urban police departments in growing numbers amid anti-police rhetoric and looming budget cuts in several major cities.
In 2020, Seattle saw its highest number of murders in 26 years, and crime in the city has trended upward in keeping with a national rise in violence.
At the same time, the staffing shortage has left Seattle police struggling to respond to 911 calls promptly. The department told the city council in March that police are taking longer than seven minutes to respond to roughly half of emergency calls.
Solan said the public safety effects of an officer shortage could be dramatic.
“The consequences are stark,” he said. “It’s not alarmist. It’s actual reality, as we’re seeing a historic rise in crime within ... the city of Seattle.”
Many officers who have chosen to leave the force cite the attitudes of local politicians on the city council and beyond, who have pushed to slash budgets while criticizing the department, Solan said.
“You have elected officials who are defunding the police department, which in my view hurts those communities within our Seattle area the most, who actually support the police because they know what’s coming is that crime will visit their doorstep,” he said.
“They continue to push false narratives about the men and women that do this job of policing, particularly here in Seattle, and the human beings that do this job here are just tired of it,” Solan added. “So, they’re going to other agencies or jurisdictions where they have the political support, where they feel valued.”
Other cities have seen officers flee to rural or state police forces where the threat of layoffs and political calculations don’t affect the job.
In Portland, Oregon, for example, the police department’s assistant chief left last year amid the summer’s waves of protests to become the police chief in Boise, Idaho. A number of officers from the Portland Police Bureau followed him there.
Portland saw an 800% increase in homicides in the first four months of this year, compared to the first four months of 2020.
In Seattle, despite the rising crime, the city moved in December to redirect roughly 20% of the police department’s budget elsewhere.
Solan said those budget cuts discourage police officers who want to become better at their jobs.
“When you defund police departments, the No. 1 thing to go, in terms of funding, is training, and if you remove training budgets, you’re going to have less of a quality product from the police department,” he said. “Police officers who actually want to train and become those better professionals are going to find support in other agencies across the state.”
More than 200 officers have left the Seattle Police Department in the past year, leaving staffing levels below what department leaders say are necessary, and the head of the police union fears that number could double by next year.
“I’m fearful that we could lose up to 400 people within a year’s time, and then, where does that put us in our community?” Mike Solan, the president of the Seattle Police Officer’s Guild, told the Washington Examiner.
“It would take decades to recover," he said.
The exodus fits with a nationwide trend of officers leaving urban police departments in growing numbers amid anti-police rhetoric and looming budget cuts in several major cities.
In 2020, Seattle saw its highest number of murders in 26 years, and crime in the city has trended upward in keeping with a national rise in violence.
At the same time, the staffing shortage has left Seattle police struggling to respond to 911 calls promptly. The department told the city council in March that police are taking longer than seven minutes to respond to roughly half of emergency calls.
Solan said the public safety effects of an officer shortage could be dramatic.
“The consequences are stark,” he said. “It’s not alarmist. It’s actual reality, as we’re seeing a historic rise in crime within ... the city of Seattle.”
Many officers who have chosen to leave the force cite the attitudes of local politicians on the city council and beyond, who have pushed to slash budgets while criticizing the department, Solan said.
“You have elected officials who are defunding the police department, which in my view hurts those communities within our Seattle area the most, who actually support the police because they know what’s coming is that crime will visit their doorstep,” he said.
“They continue to push false narratives about the men and women that do this job of policing, particularly here in Seattle, and the human beings that do this job here are just tired of it,” Solan added. “So, they’re going to other agencies or jurisdictions where they have the political support, where they feel valued.”
Other cities have seen officers flee to rural or state police forces where the threat of layoffs and political calculations don’t affect the job.
In Portland, Oregon, for example, the police department’s assistant chief left last year amid the summer’s waves of protests to become the police chief in Boise, Idaho. A number of officers from the Portland Police Bureau followed him there.
Portland saw an 800% increase in homicides in the first four months of this year, compared to the first four months of 2020.
In Seattle, despite the rising crime, the city moved in December to redirect roughly 20% of the police department’s budget elsewhere.
Solan said those budget cuts discourage police officers who want to become better at their jobs.
“When you defund police departments, the No. 1 thing to go, in terms of funding, is training, and if you remove training budgets, you’re going to have less of a quality product from the police department,” he said. “Police officers who actually want to train and become those better professionals are going to find support in other agencies across the state.”
Last edited by a moderator:
Herb
Footballguy
Thanks for sharing this. Very scary. Police are just like any other large, politicized group in this country currently. A tiny minority of bad apples become poster children for the entire population, and suffer for the crimes of the few. Just like the Jan 6th protesters, BLM protesters, Democrats, Republicans, etc...
FairWarning
Footballguy
The funny thing is the same leaders who want to defund the police will not see those cutbacks in their neighborhoods.
AMIRITE?
AMIRITE?
parasaurolophus
Footballguy
This quote becomes awesome now.
Right after the incident, Molla’s wife told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS, “My son’s bedroom, his window is facing the garage. My son smelled like smoke this morning when I was putting him down to sleep after the whole thing, he smelled like smoke, so it just blows my mind that someone would stoop this low.”
Yenrub
Footballguy
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