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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsSeattle's botched experiment with defund the police keeps getting worse
Seattle TimesWe couldnt even get the meter reader part of it right.
It never made much sense how moving parking enforcement out of the Police Department, and into the roads department, would further social or racial justice. But it was proposed in the hot summer of 2020 anyway, as a way to stick it to the cops by cutting their budget. Along with more meaningful moves, such as moving the 911 dispatch center to a new department to try to shift how many calls are answered by officers with guns.
The City Council initially cut the police budget by about 17%, never reaching the 50% goal. But the agency has been in a tailspin ever since.
More than 400 officers have left while crime has soared. This past week The Seattle Times and KUOW reported new sex assault cases arent being investigated because of understaffing. Meanwhile, the softer approaches envisioned for community safety still are in the pilot stages.
This past week the city announced it is refunding 100,000 parking tickets and voiding another 100,000 because of an oversight namely that the parking enforcement officers, who are civilians, were not regranted the authority to write tickets after they were switched out of the Police Department last fall.
TheBlackAdder
(28,222 posts)jimfields33
(15,978 posts)Just one idiotic city. They need to fix ASAP! I
Cuthbert Allgood
(4,965 posts)None.
Just because one attempt at implementation isn't going well, doesn't mean the concept is bad.
jimfields33
(15,978 posts)Like I said, thank God this didnt go national.
Cuthbert Allgood
(4,965 posts)Does it make sense that we pay police officers to give parking tickets? Yeah, they screwed up with that, but parking tickets can go elsewhere.
maxsolomon
(33,400 posts)How many of Seattle's 7,000 homeless did your city contribute?
jimfields33
(15,978 posts)Some do it perfectly and others
maxsolomon
(33,400 posts)That's what Seattle and every city on the I-5 corridor is struggling with.
"Some do it perfectly"? Examples, please.
ck4829
(35,091 posts)when school shootings are happening.
Cuthbert Allgood
(4,965 posts)Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin
(108,234 posts)J_William_Ryan
(1,758 posts)is that no one advocates for defunding the police.
What they botched was failing to hire mental health professionals to assist those suffering from homelessness, mental health issues, and substance abuse that which sworn officers are unqualified to address.
What they botched was failing to enact a policy prohibiting sworn officers from trying to drag motorists out of cars, trying to wrestle detainees to the ground, and using unwarranted restraints against detainees, all of which have contributed to the needless death of citizens.
The problem was never meter readers.
maxsolomon
(33,400 posts)"Crime has soared", but cops were doing shit to stop it regardless. Everything was NOT peachy before the Pandemic/BLM protests.
Grasswire2
(13,571 posts)An opinion piece.
Yes.
brooklynite
(94,745 posts)Seattle's mayor and mayor-elect were outraged by the cuts, especially after they say recent election results demonstrated a rebuke by the public of defunding police.
maxsolomon
(33,400 posts)Per Mosqueda's announcement: "...in the wake of Covid induced hardship and decreased revenue forecast."