Actions have consequences. Stupid actions have stupid consequences. And pro-crime policies always work.
Police defunding was billed as making Seattle safer because no longer would mean cops shoot drug dealers for no reason except that they were shooting at them.
The Seattle City Council’s headlong dash to defund police is irresponsible, destabilizing — and ongoing. A Sept. 13 council vote to further chisel away at the police budget perpetuates a malignant trend that is making Seattle a more dangerous place to live and work.
A year after council budget-cutting and tinkering with department structure led to Chief Carmen Best’s departure, almost 300 officers and detectives have followed her out the door. Seven of the council’s nine members pledged in July 2020 to take away at least half the department’s funding and reimagine public safety around fewer police interventions.
That was last year. How are things now?
Rather than police, Solidarity Budget advocates are calling on councilmembers to invest in programs and services aimed at improving equity by building stronger communities. Defunding SPD, speakers said, is part of the coalition’s broader push to prioritize the environment, housing, education, transportation, childcare and nutrition, Indigenous sovereignty, and criminal justice reform.
Rape victims assaulted by the growing number of unimprisoned criminals roaming the streets thanks to criminal justice reform.. are out of luck.