Seattle City Council committee passes resolution to undo 'defund the police' initiatives

The Seattle City Council is poised to reverse its failed 'defund the police' experiment. On Tuesday, Councilmember Rob Saka spoke with members of the Council’s public safety committee about his recently introduced Resolution 32167 that will sever ties with any previous commitments to defund the police.

The resolution recognizes work that has been done to improve public safety, including appreciation for first responders, reversing "defund" commitments, progress on a consent decree, police accountability, and a more diversified public safety response.

Saka said during the committee meeting, "This resolution reverses any prior commitment or pledge by past councils to defund or abolish the police. We know that these statements were routinely cited by departing police personnel as a reason for leaving. We also know that they are very divisive."

Councilmember Maritza Rivera said that her constituents want to see councilmembers "take a stance against the defund rhetoric that we’ve seen in the past in this city.”

Four council members voted in favor of the legislation, none opposed it, and one member was absent. The resolution will be forwarded to a full city council meeting on April 1.

According to a council press release, the bill "Reiterates support for first responders, acknowledges failure of defund movement and embraces focus on underserved communities." Saka said in the statement, “This Council, in collaboration with the Mayor’s Office, has made improving public safety an absolute priority. This is finally the time to acknowledge the lessons of the past and pivot decisively toward a better, future-focused public safety model. We are committed to making everyone in our community feel safe and to enhancing our accountability system." 

Mayor Bruce Harrell was quoted in the statement as saying, "Seattle has made significant progress on reimagining policing since we agreed to the federal consent decree over a decade ago. We have created one of the most robust police accountability systems in the country. We hired more police officers last year than we lost for the first time in years, and applications are soaring.”

He added, "To help our police officers focus on what they do best, we have diversified our response options by expanding the Fire Department’s capabilities, and we successfully launched our third public safety department and the CARE Crisis Response Teams.”

In 2020, following the death of George Floyd, protests rocked the Emerald City, and in response, the Seattle City Council began defunding the police in favor of using social workers. While the council was having the vote, a social worker was stabbed to death by her homeless client. Following the council’s efforts to defund the police, over 700 officers left the force, and crime spiked exponentially. Homicides broke all time high records and the department is now operating at staffing levels below those of the 1950s.