Seattle mayor calls for more police after six shootings in one weekend

Fox News ^ | 7/27/21 | Andrew Mark Miller

[conservative98]

The mayor of Seattle is calling on the city to rebuild its depleted police force after six separate shootings rocked Washington state's largest metropolitan area over the weekend.

"As a city, we cannot continue on this current trajectory of losing police officers," Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan said during a Monday press conference. "Over the past 17 months, the Seattle Police Department has lost 250 police officers which is the equivalent of over 300,000 service hours. We’re on path to losing 300 police officers."

Durkan added that the weekend violence is a "reminder" that there are certain emergency situations that require sworn police officers.

"We are creating meaningful alternatives," Durkan said in reference to efforts in the city being made to redirect funding and manpower to community based groups. "But, as I said last year, the city has an obligation to still continue constitutional policing and respond to 911 calls.

"It is a false choice between community-led solutions and police officers," Durkan said. "We need both."

The mayor said she will be submitting a plan to hire more police officers and rebuild the depleted force.

"Not unexpected, losing these number of officers, when city leaders talk about cutting the department by 50%," Durkan said. "You will lose employees. Families need security. Workers, even police officers, need working conditions that support them. We cannot just cut. We need a plan."

Over the weekend, six different shootings in Seattle left four people dead and seven injured.

[rktman]

😴😴😴😴😴😴

[coloradan]

No, the shootings are because there are still too many officers. Even more force reductions will be necessary. Utopia isn’t achieved until there’s only one cop per 10 million residents.

[DouglasKC]

lol....i love it when liberals figure out that armed police are the only things standing between them and hard core thugs.

[dfwgator]

What happened to the Social Workers?

[conservative98]

The Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone #CHAZ is not a lawless wasteland of anarchist insurrection - it is a peaceful expression of our community's collective grief and their desire to build a better world. Given his track record, it's not hard to believe that Trump is wrong, yet again.— Mayor Jenny Durkan (@MayorJenny) June 11, 2020

For the thousands of individuals who have been on Capitol Hill, I think you’ve seen what I’ve seen: The painting of Black Lives Matter along Pine Street, food trucks, spaghetti potlucks, teach-ins, and movies.— Mayor Jenny Durkan (@MayorJenny) June 11, 2020

Seattle is passionate, we demand justice, and I believe we will be at the forefront of true, meaningful change. Nothing will distract our city from the work that needs to be done.— Mayor Jenny Durkan (@MayorJenny) June 11, 2020

I remain committed to working with community, including the organizers currently on Capitol Hill, to re-imagine how we do things as a city, and what investments in public health, safety, and economic justice look like.— Mayor Jenny Durkan (@MayorJenny) June 11, 2020

We will not let this president be a distraction.

Centuries of slavery and systemic racism won’t be dismantled overnight, but I believe that Seattle can be a model for our country. We must work to make progress together, and it is clear that Seattle is ready to act.— Mayor Jenny Durkan (@MayorJenny) June 11, 2020

[Dilbert San Diego]

“It is a false choice between community-led solutions and police officers,” Durkan said. “We need both.”

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We all know that, Mayor. Tell this to your liberal idiots who want to defund police and send in social workers.

[Republican Wildcat]

Leftist policies are a disaster...what a surprise.

Will Seattle continue to vote Democrat? Of course...

[Billthedrill]

Jen, here’s a little clue - treat people like you’ve treated your cops and they go away. Seattle has a long way to go before it bottoms out. Enjoy the ride.

[CatOwner]

Hopefully the honest, dedicated cops have gotten out of Seattle or are in the process of doing so. Anyone working law enforcement there will be severely hampered, a target, and a scapegoat.

[Lurkina.n.Learnin]

300 out of how many?

[angry elephant]

The Seattle Police Chief resigned because Durkan and the rest of the city council would not allow her to do her job.

No one wants to go to Seattle anymore. Some buildings are still boarded up from the riots last year. The Burn Loot Murder and the Communist ANTIFA stole everything out of the flagship Nordstrom store.

Homeless are camped on the streets everywhere. No police want to work in Seattle because they are constantly belittled and not allowed to do their job.

[HotHunt]

She sounds like a real "DUH" politician.

I didn't think it would take too long before the liberals would see the errors of their ways in cutting their police forces. The criminals are not as stupid as the politicians.

Seattle. The new Chicago of the West coast.

Stupid idiots.

[Arcadian Empire]

Seattle used to be better.

[Yaelle]

What?? We need police officers??? Who knew??

[angry elephant]

Washington state used to be red, then purple, now hopelessly blue.

Ninety-two percent of the people in Seattle voted for Biteme.

[BookmanTheJanitor]

the Seattle Police Department has lost 250 police officers which is the equivalent of over 300,000 service hours. We’re on path to losing 300 police officers."

You didn't lose them...they f'ing quit, partly because of you.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Well, then, Mayor Durkan, figure out how to STOP the communists on your city council. They are your root cause of this lawlessness and crime.

[ProtectOurFreedom]

“rebuild the depleted [police] force”

Good luck with that. What officer in his or her right mind would join the PD in a city that is going to be perpetually whipsawed between a strong force and a weak force? Your officers have moved to other cities that appreciate crime prevention and control and are not coming back. You made your bed...enjoy it.

[llevrok]

When I see her on my local news, I call her the big talker. Lots of very confident words and no action. (All hat and no cowboy - as the saying goes)