August 12, 2020
Seattle City Council approves a plan to defund the police department, cutting jobs and salaries. The logic behind this is that crime has exceeded the capacity of police to control it. The solution, therefore, is to reduce the capacity of the police on the theory that the criminals then will stop committing crimes. Seattle currently has around 1,400 police officers, and the current plan would see about 100 cut, although, once the process is started, there is no reason not to expect it to continue. The police department’s $400 million budget was cut by about $3 million. The council’s plan also removes officers from a team that dismantles homeless camps. Council member Kshama Sawant was the sole “no” vote because she felt the proposals didn’t go far enough. Riots broke out in Seattle on Sunday evening ahead of the expected city council vote to defund the police. Amazon, Whole Foods, and a Chase Bank were vandalized. Police Chief Carmen Best has resigned from her position. -GEG
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