The Seattle City Council introduced a resolution on Friday to defund the city’s Police Department and replace it with a “civilian-led Department of Community Safety and Violence Prevention.”
This new community-based department would focus on building up nonprofit programs while sponsoring “community-led activities,” the resolution states. Meanwhile, emergency-related services the Police Department provides would be transferred to other, “more appropriate,” city agencies.
The resolution does not specifically say whether the Police Department will be abolished if it passes, but that is certainly its aim. It accused the Seattle Police Department of perpetuating systemic “racism and violence” and of participating in a “culture” of “white supremacy.” The message is clear: The SPD has no place in Seattle — at least, not if the authors of the resolution have their way.
BREAKING: Seattle City Council moves to abolish the entire Seattle Police Department and replace it with a “civilian led Department of Community Safety & Violence Prevention.”
They want to replace the police force with nonprofit programs and “community-led activities.” pic.twitter.com/JnFaWusvvv
— Christopher F. Rufo (@realchrisrufo) July 31, 2020
This is ridiculous. Getting rid of the Police Department will not make crime go away. It will make crime worse. Seattle’s officials should understand this given the city’s recent experiment in lawlessness, known as the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone, later renamed the Capitol Hill Organized Protest.
Last month, protesters claimed a six-block zone as theirs now and expelled law enforcement from the area. Police were told by city officials to stand down, even as their East Precinct was attacked and set on fire, even as innocent residents within the zone reported that thefts, extortion, and more violent crimes were taking place. Unwilling to upset the protesters, Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan refused to let the Police Department restore order and tried to negotiate instead.
The result? Four shootings in 10 days within the CHAZ, multiple injuries, and at least one death that might have been prevented if law enforcement hadn’t been blocked by protesters from entering the zone. Seattle’s protests might have begun peacefully, but they ended in violence. And there was no one present to stop it.
What happened in the CHAZ will become commonplace if the Seattle City Council cripples the SPD. Like it or not, policing is a crucial part of a stable society. Without it, laws will go unenforced and therefore unobeyed, and citizens will lose the protection they currently enjoy.
This isn’t about making the system better. If it were, the Seattle City Council would be focused on introducing substantive reforms, such as curbing the power of police unions, speaking out against qualified immunity, and increasing regulations within police training academies. Instead, City Council members have chosen to get rid of the system entirely. And if their effort succeeds, the entire city will be worse off for it.
