Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan reacts to handling of CHOP and to calls for defunding police

The Seattle Times reported late Thursday that three council members threw their support behind Decriminalize Seattle and King County Equity Now. The paper described Decriminalize Seattle as a coalition inspired by the Black Lives Matter protests that seek the defunding.

Seattle has recently been the focus of an intense protest that occupied a precinct and about six city streets called CHOP. The city eventually removed the protesters but not before two people were killed by gunfire.

The Seattle City Council has enough support in its body to defund the city’s police department by 50 percent even without Mayor Jenny Durkan’s approval, a report said.

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— Heidi Heitkamp (@HeitkampHeidi) July 11, 2020

Police tore down fences that protesters had erected around their tents and used batons to poke inside bushes, apparently looking for people who might be hiding inside. One officer took down a sign saying “we are not leaving until our demands are met: 1. Defund SPD by 50 percent now. 2. Fund Black Communities. 3. Free all protesters.”

The majority of the Seattle City Council say they agree with a proposal to defund the Seattle Police Department by 50 percent and reallocate the funds to other areas in the community.

“Decriminalize Seattle” and “King County Equity Now” are two new coalitions that have emerged during the recent Black Lives Matter riots calling for the defunding of police departments in Seattle.

In a presentation to the Seattle City Council’s budget committee on Wednesday, the coalition demanded the Police Department’s 2021 budget be reduced by 50 percent from the status quo (its 2020 annual budget is $409 million). Additionally, they are asking that the remaining 2020 budget be cut by 50 percent this summer.

OK, I mean, that is bad, but it gets even worse. Cutting the budget by 50 percent would actually dismantle the force completely. Here’s why:

In a letter, Senior Deputy Mayor Mike Fong begged council members to approach “re-envisioning policing” in a more “thoughtful” way.

Fong explained that the cuts would force the city to “abolish the department”.

“Some of the proposals we have heard that Council (sic) may be considering related to the current 2020 budget rebalancing effort would immediately cut as much as 25% ($100 million) or 50% ($200 million) from SPD’s budget. These blunt efforts would not serve our communities or lead to the thoughtful change needed. SPD has already spent half of its $400 million annual budget by now, so a $200 million cut (or 50% of SPD’s budget) would leave the department with zero budget remaining for 2020 and require the City to abolish the department. $100 million reduction (or 25% of SPD’s budget) would mean immediate layoffs of up to 1,000 personnel leaving Chief Best and the Seattle Police Department unable to conduct basic functions.

Wow. I hate what this means for the decent residents and business owners of Seattle, but I’d kinda like to see what happens when Seattle becomes a complete cesspool of crime. Will the BLM protesters step into the breach and fight all the horrible things that fill in the void of law enforcement? Yeah, somehow I doubt it…