Just hours after Seattle’s city council votes to defund police, Chief announces resignation
Seattle city officials voted Monday to move forward with a proposal beginning the process of defunding the Seattle Police Department.
In the 7-1 vote, the proposal cuts the police department’s annual budget by $3 million, resulting in the loss of roughly 100 officers who will be subject to layoffs. Ironically, because many of the police officers who will be subject to the layoffs were recent hires as part of the city’s diversity hiring program.
The proposal also slashed Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best’s and many of her top officers salary. Best, who was the city’s first Black police chief reportedly authored a letter addressed to all Seattle police officers informing them that she would be “retiring” effective September 2nd, 2020.
Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan issued a statement shortly after the council vote, criticizing the move.
“It is unfortunate Council has refused to engage in a collaborative process to work with the Mayor, Chief Best, and community members to develop a budget and policies that respond to community needs while accounting for – not just acknowledging – the significant labor and legal implications involved in transforming the Seattle Police Department,” the statement said.
Over a dozen cities in the U.S. have already began to enact defunding plans. These cities include Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Washington D.C., Baltimore; Portland, Philadelphia, Hartford, Norman OK., Boston, Salt Lake City and now Seattle.
