In Seattle, there are many problems with crime. Looking at violent crime specifically, Seattle, WA has a violent crime rate that is 118% higher than the Washington average and 79% higher than the national average. For property crime, Seattle, WA is 75% higher than the Washington average and 134% higher than the national average.
The act of hearing an interpreted racial slur and calling upon police with all the problems they have already, is, beside wasting their time on guessing games with the crime problems they have, going to get them sued for false arrest and send a lot of taxpayer money right down the toilet.
RCW 9A.36.080
Hate crime offense—Definition and criminal penalty.
(1) A person is guilty of a hate crime offense if he or she maliciously and intentionally commits one of the following acts because of his or her perception of the victim’s race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender expression or identity, or mental, physical, or sensory disability:
(a) Causes physical injury to the victim or another person;
(b) Causes physical damage to or destruction of the property of the victim or another person; or
(c) Threatens a specific person or group of persons and places that person, or members of the specific group of persons, in reasonable fear of harm to person or property. The fear must be a fear that a reasonable person would have under all the circumstances.
As Police Chief, Best manages 1,400 police officers and is in charge of maintaining court ordered reform to limit excessive police force and improve relationships with the local community. In 2019, she received the Vision from the Mountaintop Award from Urban Impact for her dedication to justice and community as well as being awarded the “Newsmaker of the Year” by the Seattle Black Press. She is also a member of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement.
Adds up. don’t it? Paying more attention to racial situations, perceived or not, than crime when the city has one of the highest crime rates in the US, is totally inadequate as a police chief. She worried about slurs while violent and property crimes are well above the average for the US. Perhaps this is why she originally was not placed in the finalists for the job when it opened.
But a little history of how she got the job:
In January of 2018, Best was appointed as interim Police Chief following the resignation of Kathleen O’Toole. Later that year, controversy ensued when she was not considered as a finalist for police chief, despite serving in the interim position. Her exclusion as a candidate not only drew criticisms from the police union of Seattle but supporters in the community as well. An advisory group to the mayor believed that Best’s long history with the Police Department would prevent her from carrying out court ordered reform. After Mayor Jenny Durkan’s office released the final candidates, a group of black community organizers led by Harriet Walden and Eddie Rye, Jr. demanded Durkan repeal the decision and placed Best among the finalists.
After mounting pressure from community leaders, Durkan spoke with top finalist Cameron McLay, former Pittsburgh Police Chief, who decided to drop out of the race due to personal reasons. She then placed Best among the finalists to which the Seattle City Council voted her as the next Police Chief.
And her biggest concern is possible racial slurs?
rwood
I find the fact that there is a National Organization of Black Law Enforcement depressing. We will never get past race in this country. Too many people and organizations have a vested interest in keeping it alive.