Seattle residents near the area that has been occupied by protesters have had to wait 3 times as long for an officer to arrive during an emergency since the “autonomous zone” formed.
Response times in the area normally served by Seattle’s East Precinct have more than tripled since protesters established a six-block area of the city to establish the “Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone,” of CHAZ. Before the occupation, officers typically took just over five minutes to respond to a 911 call, but now the average response time is more than 18 minutes, according to police Chief Carmen Best.
Secondary calls to officers about nonemergency issues now take more than an hour to receive a response. Best told KOMO News that the delay could leave residents without help in dangerous circumstances.
“There are people’s lives who are affected,” Best said. “Emergency calls, which often means somebody’s being assaulted, sometimes it’s a rape, sometimes it’s a robbery, but something bad is happening if it’s a top priority call, and we’re not able to get there.”
“I can not drive home the point enough: We need to be able to respond to police services,” Best later added. “We have no intention of doing anything violent, we respect all the protesters and the people who have landed here. But we also know that we have an obligation and a priority to make sure that we’re taking care of everybody fairly in this area. … I’d like to see nothing more than the ability to provide police service while at the same time respecting the First Amendment free speech rights of everyone else.”
CHAZ formed after police abandoned the precinct building and allowed protesters to occupy the area by forming a police-free city within Seattle. CHAZ has borders and is functioning as a nation, complete with a “you are now leaving the USA” sign at its entry point.
Best said that it was “heartbreaking” to see the precinct under the occupation of protesters. Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan said she was not sure when the city would regain control of the area.
“It’s heartbreaking to see,” she said. “This was one of the first precincts I was assigned to as a new officer. Worked out of this building for many years. Looking at this, it’s a tragedy.”
The creation of CHAZ followed weeks of nationwide protests against police brutality and racial injustice that were triggered by the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody.
