What Will Happen When Seattle PD Suffers Partial Defunding (Opportunity: lawyer, neighborhood)

[Tim Randal Walker]

Early this year, before Coronavirus became a thing, it seemed that downtown was being over run by crime. For example, there was a shooting that killed a person.

[skeddy]

when someone runs into my car and takes off, if I get the license tag, will the social worker find the person responsible and give them a stern lecture about responsibility?

[Gaylord_Focker]

Originally Posted by pete98146

What will happen? Crime slowly rises but this time it will be widespread and not in a small district up in Capital Hill. George Carlin used to do a piece on this and he called it "NIMBY" which stands for Not in My Back Yard! So when the most radical liberal has his or home vandalized or burglarized, the ol' garden gate magically swings the other direction and we'll hear cries and pleas to re-fund the SPD.

I wish this were true, but lately the reaction has been "oh I deserve this because I'm rich and white."

[jertheber]

The idea that city budgets actually translate into efficiency, or the lack of it, seems to fall into the realm of confounded thinking. Seattle has always been a city that has had it's crime problems, and just like most cities, the police budget, over the years, doesn't seem to reflect real differences in the quality of street policing. Rainier Valley, Beacon hill, parts of Capitol hill, and Aurora ave all have their history of violent crime, regardless of city policing budgets being fat or lean.

The Seattle police have spent a ton of effort and money in their war on drugs, door smashing busts, in depth gang investigation, informant recruiting, and a lot of undercover officers roaming the avenues looking for dealers and their customers. Most of that "crime" was, and is, the victimless kind, leaving the total force a bit more under-manned than it could have been.

I've seen police budgets cut deeply in other cities only to realize that the crime rate wasn't affected much. The "de-fund the police" issue will most likely result in some type of protester pacification mode wherein the money is slashed and policing will be reduced in those activities which aren't part of the violent crime statistical numbers.

I remember the time when the Green River killer was out and about, killing with what seemed to be a complete absence of fear, we then found out that County police were focusing instead on gambling and prostitution along highway 99. It took years for detectives to get Gary Ridgeway simply because they really weren't looking all that hard, County police budgets were actually upped in an effort to address the serial killer, but ultimately-- that's not where they chose to add manpower...Another "wowser" issue to keep the complainers busy.

[Toyman at Jewel Lake]

If forced to make cuts, the PD should start with the mayor's security detail, security for city hall and remove patrols from the neighborhoods of the mayor and council members.

[Blondebaerde]

Had a quote, yesterday, and lost it. I'll paraphrase, as-issued from some sort of police authority:

"The idea of some sort of interventionist counselor performing a traffic stop on a suspect is a non-starter. Traffic stops are one of our most-challenging activities for various reasons (BB: watch 'Cops', you might start to get an idea why. Oh, wait...). The idea of a non-sworn authority performing these makes me shudder."

Translation:

There are a few murderous, heinous people out there. A stern talking to won't cut it, only use of force-on-force. Rare, but happens.

Social workers can't be the initial contacting agents: who knows what might happen. A few beaten up or, heaven forbid, shot social workers will result in 'lawsuits' and other BS against the very agencies who recommended FOR their use. In the end, the taxpayer pays. Oh, and the poor social counselor becomes hardened to rival the Nazi SS or Communist Red Guards. Probably the latter, complete with uniform and arm bands.

A non-sworn peace officer performing a traffic stop? Pffft: I'd love to see the legal tangle there! I am law abiding, mostly, and my first words would be, "Who the ____ are you?" I can only imagine what even more-ornery people would say. Or, do. My lawyer would have that so-called 'citation' dismissed in 3 minutes.

I'm guessing we may come up with something like, sworn officers perform the stop, and radio in for intervention squad or whatnot while fading back a bit. The squad has a nice chat with the scumbag in the BMW M5 with fart pipes going 95 in a 60 zone (as noted by me yesterday mid-day on I405 South, for example). Assuming no shots are fired, off he goes then with a bag of candy, yellow card to "slow down, please!" and a hug from a 'Squad Coach. Granted, I just pulled that out of my ass and have NO idea the details (which matter), but looking for solutions here.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by bergun

Also, there has been a major uptick in gun purchases and I only hope that people get some type of training AND know the law(s) of carrying a firearm AND the liability of using it. The only thing I know is that crime, especially violent crimes, will be on the rise in the Seattle area. The police have now been placed in the box of the "Damned if you do AND Damned if you don't," which they effectively chose the "don't" for liability reasons and with a major cut in their budget, good luck in having a cop respond in less than 10-15 minutes AFTER a serious criminal attack... To take the report.

.

Isn't that required of anyone applying for a gun license? Or for a concealed-carry license?

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by Tim Randal Walker

On the television news there was a story about a city in California. The city was in financial distress, and basically laid off half of the police department-leading to a big jump in crime.

That may have been Vallejo. Vallejo already was a crime-ridden enclave on the Bay. (SF Bay Area). East Vallejo was the higher-end, middle-class part of town, the rest of it was ghetto. It declared bankruptcy. Currently, it's undergoing gradual gentrification, as the last Bayfront community within commute distance of job centers. It's still a little out-of-the-way, but has a commuter ferry to San Francisco, and a bus that connects to the north end of the east bay BART system trains.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by leastprime

One bad, cop ruins it for all cops.
Remove the veils and force their union to recognize their problem.

This. The head of the Minneapolis police union is an avowed, unabashed White Supremacist. He makes sure the bad cops keep their jobs.

[Tim Randal Walker]

Read The Anglosphere Challenge some years ago. The author contrasted/compared what he called high trust societies and low trust societies. High trust societies are characterized by strong civil societies; citizens trust each other, as well as institutions.

The United States was characterized as a high trust society.

I was initially shocked by the demand that the SPD be defunded. I'm a white guy. I have been trying to comprehend this demand. Are black people so distrustful that they view the police as a sort of Gestapo? And to deal with this they want the police department to be-not reformed-but gutted?

If so, that would mean the USA has a white majority characterized by high trust, and a black minority acting as though this is a low trust country.