Seattle City Council Backs Call to Defund the Police by 50%

[mystery-ak]

Joel B. Pollak10 Jul 20201,054
2:36

A veto-proof majority of the Seattle City Council backed a proposal Thursday to defund the Seattle Police Department by 50% — including a proposal to remove 911 dispatchers from police control and to “imagine life beyond policing.”

The Seattle Times reported:

    A majority of Seattle City Council members now say they agree with a high-level proposal by advocates to defund the Police Department by 50% and reallocate the dollars to other community needs.

    …

    That means seven of nine council members are on board with the idea, though they have yet to say exactly how they intend to make the cuts; six votes are needed to pass budget-related legislation and to override a mayoral veto. [Mayor Jenny] Durkan has not backed a 50% reduction.

    Decriminalize Seattle and King County Equity Now are new coalitions that have emerged during the recent Black Lives Matter protests and that count a number of community organizations led by Black people as endorsers.

The activists’ four-point plan, according to the Times, is as follows:

    Remove Seattle’s 911 dispatchers from police control
    Scale up community-based solutions to public safety
    Fund a community-led process to “imagine life beyond policing.”
    Invest in affordable housing

more
https://www.breitbart.com/crime/2020/07/10/seattle-city-council-backs-call-to-defund-the-police-by-50/

[PeteS in CA]

If done, this will not go well.

[rangerrebew]

What could go wrong? “Decriminalize Seattle” lines up majority council support for 50% cut in police budget

Ed MorrisseyPosted at 9:21 am on July 10, 2020

Didn’t we just see this movie? “It is the institution of policing itself that must be dismantled,” one Seattle city council member declared as a majority announced its support for cutting the police budget by 50%. That would create a reduction of 1,000 personnel, with the council mulling ways in which the funding could be redirected to “community organizations” rather than policing.
 
Would that be more “community organizations” like the CHAZ Patrol?
 
    The majority of Seattle City Council is now backing proposals to defund Seattle’s police department by 50%, despite concerns from the mayor’s office and Seattle’s police chief that council members are moving too quickly and without enough widespread community engagement.

https://hotair.com/archives/ed-morrissey/2020/07/10/go-wrong-decriminalize-seattle-lines-majority-council-support-50-cut-police-budget/

[goatprairie]

I mean what could go wrong without police?  .......

[cato potatoe]

The suburban real estate owners must be pleased with this development.  Wait a few years, sell your place for double, and retire in Arizona.