GLOBAL PANDEMIC NEWS
Click Me
Storechecklist
Alternative News
Law Enforcement Today
940 posts

Report: Thanks to defunding, Seattle police may not have enough officers to handle anticipated post-election anarchy

Report: Thanks to defunding, Seattle police may not have enough officers to handle anticipated post-election anarchy 1

SEATTLE, WA – The movement to defund the Seattle Police Department, the loss of their remarkable police chief, months and months of occupation and protests in the “CHOP” area, and the recent resurgence of promised protests.

All of this likely has the Seattle Police Department caught short in their ability to handle the upcoming protests scheduled for election day and the days after.

Nearly 120 officers have left the police force since the end of September.  Most were patrol officers, and either retired or transferred to other agencies. 

Seattle now maintains only 1,200 officers that are deployable for contingencies, the lowest number since 1990, when the city’s population was 516,000. Now the population has grown to 783,000, not to mention the explosion of the surrounding suburban areas increasing the number of citizens routinely inside the city limits. 

Interim Police Chief Adrian Diaz made a bold statement last week:

“You have to have close to about 1,400 to then have a reasonable number, which puts us to about 1,250 [or] 1,275 that are deployable.  So you really need about 1,400 people to have a much more reasonable staffing when it comes to having enough in patrol investigations and special operations.”

Price & Product Availability Tracker

Discover where products are available & compare prices

The alternative to having good staffing numbers is to work officers on twelve-hour shifts with no days off as long as is necessary.  It goes without saying that practice will cause stress and exhaustion, all while being critiqued and micro-managed – a formula made for failure and likely the departure of even more officers.

The direct blame for this manning problem sits squarely in the laps of the partisan city council.  The council voted for a 17 percent reduction in the police budget for next fiscal year and leaves officers with the attitude that the department must save money and “hope for the best.”

The King County Sheriff’s Department has been tasked to support the Seattle Police Department during a crisis, but Sheriff Mitzi Johanknecht has a similar concern about staffing once their department would be thinned out to support the city:

“We have prepared for and will stand up a command post and support King County Elections if called upon to do so.  My worry is that we do not have enough deputies and officers if protests or rallies get out of hand.”

Other major cities have similar concerns as their city councils have voted to defund police to an extent – cities like Minneapolis, Dallas, Portland, New York City, and others have enacted measures that shadow Seattle’s process.

In fact, New York City has reduced the New York Police Department’s budget by one billion dollars, causing major components and specialty sections of the department to shut down.

As a result, business owners and citizens are boarding up their store fronts and homes – something never before seen in relation to an election.

Many city streets look more like prep for a hurricane or other natural disaster.

Those on the left are readily blaming Trump and his supporters for the fact that so many businesses are spending the money to board up and cover their windows.

However, the vast majority of those arrested for the several months-long rioting in big cities like Portland, New York, Seattle, etc. have been supporters of the far left.

Look familiar?  This is Lake Charles, Louisiana, preparing for Hurricane Delta after receiving Hurricane Laura.

A significant concern that most people would overlook is the direct impact police staffing has on public safety.  With officers spread thin and working long shifts, they’re not available for routine calls. This includes calls that are major like robberies, rapes, assaults, and traffic offenses like DUIs, and those involving drug use.

Just like when CHAZ/CHOP was in play, a normal police call from a citizen was likely to go without response, or at very best, a delayed response.

One would certainly hope that an election wouldn’t cause mass protests, riots, looting, and fires.  Our police are the front line of defense for citizens and businesses, and now they face a threat they’ve likely never seen.

Between losing manning numbers in the hundreds, trying to pick up the slack for the missing officers, the “insta-mobs” phenomenon, and city governments that not only provide little to no support, but are actively working to take even more resources from these departments, the next few months should be interesting.

Do you want to join our private family of first responders and supporters?  Get unprecedented access to some of the most powerful stories that the media refuses to show you.  Proceeds get reinvested into having active, retired and wounded officers, their families and supporters tell more of these stories.  Click to check it out.

October 1, 2020

 
SEATTLE, WA- After yet another weekend of “peaceful protests” once again turned into mayhem, the interim police chief of the Seattle PD, Adrian Diaz is making staffing changes.

This comes after rioters in Seattle used the occasion of the grand jury decision in the Breonna Taylor case to once again engage in rioting, looting and vandalism.

On Saturday, police made at least 10 arrests as demonstrators set fires and damaged property in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of the city, Fox News reported.

Chief Diaz spoke to KOMO news, saying that the violence in the city needs to stop.

“These calls for change are being drowned out by relentless violence, mayhem and illegal behavior,” Diaz told the outlet.

Diaz said that he is working with leaders from the city, state and federal agencies in order to hold those responsible accountable for the ongoing violence.

“If there are people going out and peacefully protesting, we will help facilitate that peaceful protest,” Diaz said. “But if they are coming to create this mayhem, we are going to address this mayhem.”

Diaz said the department will be implementing staffing changes this coming week in an effort to reduce police response times to emergency calls. The changes include moving at least 100 officers back to patrol from other departments.

“In the next literally three days, we will have personnel back into patrol being able to respond to calls for service,” Diaz said.

He is also reaching out to the community to work alongside police to quell the violence.

“The violence has to stop and we need every member of this community to demand this end as well,” he said.

The useless mayor of Seattle, Jenny Durkan, told KOMO news in a statement that she is asking protesters to “remain peaceful,” while rejecting those who start fires and endangering others, as well as to listen to the Seattle Police Department’s dispersal warnings.

Fox News said neither the mayor’s office nor the Seattle Police Department returned calls asking for comment on the new staffing initiative.

Just last week, we filed a report on how rioters in Seattle have filed lawsuits against the Seattle Police Department, the City of Seattle and Washington State, in some cases for failure to protect them while they were rioting, assaulting police and destroying property. For more on that, we invite you to:

DIG DEEPER

ROFLMAO…if you are not familiar with texting parlance, that means “roll on the floor, laugh my ass off.”

That is all we could say when we saw the unadulterated load of crap coming out of Seattle. If you missed it, a lawsuit was filed on Friday that accuses the city and state of failing to protect rioters, er “protesters” from injury and death.

You see, the police are just supposed to let these overgrown children loot and destroy the city without repercussions.

Below are some examples of “peaceful” Seattle protesters.

Report: Thanks to defunding, Seattle police may not have enough officers to handle anticipated post-election anarchySeattle Riot courtesy:YouTube

The suit also alleges that the Seattle PD allegedly broke laws and violated the state constitution, as well as the department’s own policies, the Patch reported.

Report: Thanks to defunding, Seattle police may not have enough officers to handle anticipated post-election anarchy“Peaceful” Seattle protest courtesy: YouTube

The 100-page lawsuit was brought by an apparent ambulance-chasing law firm, specifically Stritmatter Kessler Koehler Moore and Cedar Law PLLC. The suit seeks damages, as well as lawyers’ fees, expenses and for protesters’ arrest records to be expunged, purged and/or sealed.

Cry us a river.

Report: Thanks to defunding, Seattle police may not have enough officers to handle anticipated post-election anarchy

More “peaceful” Seattle protests courtesy: YouTubeThe suit represents dozens of rioters, including a man named Daniel Gregory, who was injured in a shooting at a Capitol Hill protest in June, as well as Aubreanna Inda, who ended up in the hospital after allegedly being struck by a police projectile adjacent to the East Precinct.

Report: Thanks to defunding, Seattle police may not have enough officers to handle anticipated post-election anarchy“Peaceful” commercial grade fireworks Courtesy:YouTube

One of the plaintiffs is the family of Summer Taylor, who was playing on Interstate 5 during a July 4 demonstration and was hit by a driver. Taylor died from her injuries.

Report: Thanks to defunding, Seattle police may not have enough officers to handle anticipated post-election anarchyProtesters on Interstate 5 Seattle Courtesy:YouTube

“This lawsuit is brought on behalf of peaceful protesters,” said Karen Koehler, one of the attorneys representing the plaintiffs. “These protesters did not attack the police, they did not commit violence, they did not loot. They are like 99 percent of the protesters who have tried to protest on behalf of Black Lives Matter. Their peaceful protests were met with the very thing they are protesting against.”

Report: Thanks to defunding, Seattle police may not have enough officers to handle anticipated post-election anarchyYet more “peaceful” protests in Seattle- Courtesy YouTube

According to KUOW, the lawsuit is arguing that police used excessive, unprovoked force on “peaceful” protesters.

One complainant, for example, claims that an officer picked her out of the crowd and said:

“I’m going to beat the shit out of you.”

Another one is reportedly with the University of Washington’s daily newspaper The Daily. They were allegedly displaying identification showing they were members of the media when they allege they were struck with a police baton.

Yet another person complaining is a man who tried to stop a driver from entering a crowded protest area. The driver shot him, then turned himself into police.

The lawsuit makes numerous allegations that tries to remove responsibility from the rioting lunatics and transfer it to the police department.

The lawsuit alleges the following negligent actions by the Seattle police:

  • Failing to post signage, block off streets, or accurately communicate with protesters about safety measures.
  • The police department did not deescalate conflict or avoid unreasonably escalating conflict
  • The department did not communicate warnings to protesters or give protesters reasonable opportunity to comply with warnings.
  • City officials did not prohibit unreasonable use of force, and the police department violated its own policies and reasonable policing practices regarding use of force.
  • The department did not properly plan for the demonstrations or adequately communicate with officers.
  • The department did not properly protect protesters in Capitol Hill or adequately set up barriers to prevent cars from driving into the area.
  • Seattle PD and state did not properly supervise officers.

Specific complaints range from unconstitutional excessive force to unconstitutional restraints and punishment of free speech and assembly, negligence, false imprisonment and wrongful death.

The complaint alleges that some of the “peaceful protesters” were hit with “crowd control weapons” such as “blast balls” and pepper spray and goes through a laundry list of injuries allegedly at the hands of police.

The attorneys also allege that the police used a disproportionate number of officers, used “haphazard and improper force,” targeted “legal” observers, journalists, and medical personnel and infringed on constitutional rights.

The Seattle Times reported that the city attorney’s office intends to defend Seattle against the claims, however the state has not yet reviewed the lawsuit.

Apparently, the only thing the “peaceful protesters” are not asking for is ice cream and lollipops.

Bottom line, if you are gonna play with fire, expect to get burned.

This is a case where these ridiculous suits should be tossed out on summary judgment.

Want to make sure you never miss a story from Law Enforcement Today? With so much “stuff” happening in the world on social media, it’s easy for things to get lost.

Make sure you click “following” and then click “see first” so you don’t miss a thing! (See image below.) Thanks for being a part of the LET family!

Facebook Follow First

Read the Full Article

Alternative News

Prepare Now Before its too Late

Discover where products are available & compare prices

Find Products
Election Day: Joe Biden Still 'Open' to Packing the Supreme Court
Retired officer: Make no mistake about it- we are in a battle against Satan for the soul of America

You might also like
Menu