One of the few cities to continue downsizing its police budget well after public opinion had turned against the idea, Seattle has struggled intensely to combat a rise in crime amid officer shortages and strained resources.
Democrats have almost entirely abandoned the “defund the police” movement in the past year, responding to what has become a considerable public backlash to the liberal approach to law enforcement.
Cities from Chicago to Atlanta have moved to pad police budgets and put resources toward hiring more officers since the height of the movement in 2020.
But Seattle has for months avoided the trend of adding money back into law enforcement coffers, although its new mayor has pushed to reinvigorate the police force.
The result has been a failure to meet some of the basic duties of the department.
Seattle police have been able to investigate and refer for prosecution far fewer sexual assault cases in the past year compared to 2019, police officers told local news station KUOW .
Staffing shortages have robbed the Seattle Police Department of the ability to keep up with even basic tasks.
Specialty units, such as those meant to tackle domestic violence, have struggled to keep enough officers to function.
Response times to 911 calls have grown longer, with fewer police available to respond to them.
More than 170 police officers reportedly left the Seattle police force in 2021, with another 186 departing the year before.
Seattle was one of the only cities in the country to cut its police budget multiple times and resist calls to provide the police force with more resources amid rising crime.
The Seattle City Council voted in November for an effective reduction to the police budget after a contentious debate over whether the city should slash millions more, something the council ultimately moved against.
The resulting 2022 budget was less than what the city authorized for police in both 2020 and 2021. Seattle had a $401.8 million police budget in 2020 and a $363 million budget in 2021; in 2022, the City Council voted on a budget that gave the department $355.5 million.
The city’s cuts came even after Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell won his election in 2021 by promising to support law enforcement and fight crime in the city, defeating a mayoral candidate who had promised to cut police funding.
Harrell has pushed to hire 125 new officers to the force this year.
Crime continued its sharp increase last year in the wake of Seattle’s police budget cuts.
“Robbery, Aggravated Assaults, and Motor Vehicle Thefts were significantly high this year when compared to a five-year weighted average,” Seattle police said in the 2021 crime report , which was released in February.
Violent crime, a category that includes murder, rape, robbery, and aggravated asault, rose 20% last year, according to the department.
* story by The Washington Examiner
