Seattle’s city council voted and passed a legislation on Monday that would reduce funding to the police department, shrinking the police force by around 100 officers.
This is what the protestors on the streets have been calling for in the slogan ‘defund the police’.
While the action gained traction in the streets, it was strongly resisted by the city’s mayor Jenny Durkan and its police chief Carmen Best. However, only one legislator voted against the measure because she said the measure did not do enough to reduce police funding.
The actual amount of reduction was not massive, as it was only decreased by $4 million out of its $400 million annual budget. Protestors have called for at least a 50% reduction to the police budget.
After passing the legislation, the lawmakers indicated that Monday’s vote will be the first step in a long and arduous process of rethinking the role of the police and public safety. Perhaps as an added insult, Chief Best and other police leaders got their salaries reduced.
Another notable aspect of the budget reallocation was the removal of the SPD’s ‘Navigation Team’, which specialized in removing homeless camps. The money has been redirected to aid social groups that work with the homeless population within the city.
Both the mayor and police chief of Seattle asked that the city council take the measures after the dust settles, namely as they consider the whole city’s budget for the 2021-22 fiscal year.
Moreover, they argued that the reduction in police budgets will disproportionately affect the newer recruits into the force, most of them from the African American community. They also feared that layoffs caused by the lack of budget may lead to a series of lawsuits.
Mayor Durkan’s defense of the police is a rather unique occasion, mainly because she often sided with those who called for defunding the police. She had already proposed in July of decreasing the budget by $75 million by sizing down some of the departments.
On the other hand, the critics of the decision said that the measure was a longshot from what the protestors were calling for, saying that the city council did not go the full measure. Simultaneously, pro-Police protestors also lamented the decision, and shouted ‘Back the Blue’.
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Replaced!