Report: 'mass exodus' of Seattle police officers. (homes, college)

[wutitiz]

'Mass exodus?


This is from Jason Rantz, who hosts a talk show 6-9 AM on KTTH, 770AM.


Just in the past week, 21 SPD officers have announced their departure.

“I was being ordered to do less police work,” he explained. “They would tell me … not to look for problems. A lot of this comes from there’s more risk with officers being proactive. I got into the job to help people, to make a difference … being a reactionary police department to wait until I was alerted to a problem wasn’t doing Seattle justice.”
This feeling isn’t isolated. Multiple officers contacted for this piece have made similar claims.

There also seems to be unhappiness over bringing in a new chief from outside, rather than keeping Interim Chief Carmen Best, who evidently is popular among SPD officers. And frustration from perceived lack of support from several city council members, especially O'Brien and Sawant. Sawant is being sued for defamation because of her comments about the shooting of Che Taylor, who was shot by police when reaching for a gun.


I'm about as anti-cop as they come, but having high employee turnover, and/or working under-staffed, cannot be good news for any enterprise, whether it's a police force or a grocery store.

[CapitalBat]

Wow, interesting read and lots to consider. This jumped out to me:

“They’re getting in trouble for not turning cameras on fast enough,” Stuckey said. “You’re on the way to a call and you didn’t immediately turn on the camera. Yes, you helped [the victims]. But you didn’t do it fast enough so here’s two days off [as punishment]? That’s a question we have to ask ourselves: what does policing mean? Is a mistake misconduct for the police officers?”

I’m stunned that the progressive leaders haven’t called for the funding for these cameras to run 24hr a day. I mean, my security company will record ours for less than $30 a month, surely we can afford shift-long body cameras?!

[Kayela]

"Alexa - camera on"

[Seacove]

Originally Posted by Kayela

"Alexa - camera on"

I like it!

[homesinseattle]

The positions pay well, I'm sure they will find more officers.

[JonasW]

Considering the SPDs record I'd say good riddance.

[mhays25]

Originally Posted by CapitalBat

Wow, interesting read and lots to consider. This jumped out to me:

“They’re getting in trouble for not turning cameras on fast enough,” Stuckey said. “You’re on the way to a call and you didn’t immediately turn on the camera. Yes, you helped [the victims]. But you didn’t do it fast enough so here’s two days off [as punishment]? That’s a question we have to ask ourselves: what does policing mean? Is a mistake misconduct for the police officers?”

I’m stunned that the progressive leaders haven’t called for the funding for these cameras to run 24hr a day. I mean, my security company will record ours for less than $30 a month, surely we can afford shift-long body cameras?!

I doubt that's an option. Three very obvious reasons come to mind:

1. Should they get filmed in the bathroom? Even if you think they should, we have privacy laws, and ethics should apply.

2. They shouldn't be filmed while off the job even if in uniform (getting dressed, lunch, etc.).

3. Filming their computer screens at the office would break confidentiality laws etc.

That's before you get to a bunch of equally-obvious logistical and technical issues.

[CapitalBat]

Originally Posted by mhays25

I doubt that's an option. Three very obvious reasons come to mind:

1. Should they get filmed in the bathroom? Even if you think they should, we have privacy laws, and ethics should apply.

2. They shouldn't be filmed while off the job even if in uniform (getting dressed, lunch, etc.).

3. Filming their computer screens at the office would break confidentiality laws etc.

That's before you get to a bunch of equally-obvious logistical and technical issues.

I love that you’ve presented these as insurmountable obstacles And as though having a body camera capable of running for an entire shift somehow means it *couldn’t* be turned off. Turn it off in the bathroom. Have facial disruption when talking to (whomever). But if you’re sitting in your car or having a coffee or driving to a call your camera should be on. I can’t believe I’m spelling this out.

[bergun]

Originally Posted by homesinseattle

The positions pay well, I'm sure they will find more officers.

Yeah, they will find new cops... That will be new cops and most of any department's problems come from newly hired officers since they haven't learned how to deal with difficult people without escalating the problem or have any real "street smarts" since most of them will have very little "real life" life experiences, outside of a college environment.

...So they end up quitting too... And they hire more new officers to fill their ranks and repeat the process.

Yes, the police are paid well, but not enough to be shot, killed, stressed out, divorced, face a public "trail by TV" or be sued for whatever.

Btw, if people have problems with their local police, why don't they step forward and become a police officer and lead by example in their communities?

[mhays25]

Originally Posted by CapitalBat

I love that you’ve presented these as insurmountable obstacles And as though having a body camera capable of running for an entire shift somehow means it *couldn’t* be turned off. Turn it off in the bathroom. Have facial disruption when talking to (whomever). But if you’re sitting in your car or having a coffee or driving to a call your camera should be on. I can’t believe I’m spelling this out.

You didn't read clearly. Since when are we talking about "having a body camera capable of running for an entire shift"? I didn't reference that, as it's obviously easy to do. It wasn't in your post that I quoted.

How about slowing down and reading first?