Issue 20: Do cops need hiring incentives?
City Council likely to provide SPD with more money on May 24
While other city departments are preparing for a 6% budget cut, Resolution 32050 (CM Nelson) and Council Bill 120320 (CM Herbold) would provide SPD with $1.15 million more to spend on police hiring incentives, a new cop recruiter, and a national SPD advertising campaign. SPD’s 2022 budget already included funds to hire 125 new officers and $4.1 million for discretionary spending beyond that.
The police are claiming a staffing crisis, but they refuse to address it by moving responsibilities out of their department. SPD has delayed and so far prevented the transfer of any 9-1-1 calls using an SPD-led “risk analysis.” There is clear monetary self-interest at play, and they only consider risk to officers, not risk to community or public safety.
For more discussion of the legislation and politics as of May 11, see this issue of Amy Sundberg’s newsletter: Continued Institutional Resistance to a Civilian Alternate Response Service in Seattle.
How can you help?
The legislation will almost certainly come to a vote at full council on Tuesday, May 24, at 2 pm. You can express your opposition by calling, emailing, and providing public comment. Updated resources are here:
Strong statements against SPD funding will make it clear that passing the legislation would be a win for cops and worsen public safety. Council should not spend time and money to further ramp up policing when issues of racism and deadly force remain unaddressed. Here is some evidence:
As of this writing, SPD has killed three people123, and the King County Jail has killed another five4. According to SPD, there have been 17 homicides in this time. That means the cops and the carceral system have caused 32% of Seattle’s killings. Putting more money into this system puts more lives at risk.
A recent Seattle Times article uses data from 2019 and 2021 to conclude that SPD is still racist against Black, Native American, and Asian people. From the article:
Black people, who make up 7.3% of the city’s population, were involved in 36% of all uses of force by Seattle police officers, including 54% of police shootings and 36% of other “Type III” incidents where force could result in serious injury or death.
They are able to draw this conclusion despite the fact that race data was missing in almost a third of the police reports, further elevating the cause for concern.
Council members acknowledge that we need non-police emergency response but are refusing to fund it. They need pressure from you! Here’s a great tweet that does exactly that:
Seattle Abolition Support endorses social housing and I-135
Continued funding for Parks and SPD to conduct brute-force sweeps is not a safe or effective way to address the housing crisis.
