PRESS RELEASE
 
Public Safety in the City of Seattle continues to be politicized and violent ANTIFA criminals once again dominate Seattle’s public safety conversation with their insane use of political violence. This is Seattle’s public safety political reality.
 
Over seven hundred police officers have fled this city in the past decade. This is due to the public safety political decisions by our elected leaders, activist pressure, and for their lack of action against ANTIFA criminals who continue to dictate public safety political terms. The remaining police officers in this city are tired. Our community is tired. This is Seattle’s public safety political reality.
 
Time and time again, Seattle’s public safety servants have been the tool or entity to blame for Seattle’s woes.  Despite this reality, SPOG members know that we lead the nation in police accountability and that our accountability system is under full civilian management. Yet we incessantly hear political activists calling for more. This is Seattle’s public safety political reality.
 
In the past fifteen years, Seattle’s tax base has spent well over 200-million-dollars to pay federal monitors and their staff in what appears to be the never-ending Department of Justice (DOJ) Consent Decree experience. Will it ever end? How many policies need to be changed? This is Seattle’s public safety political reality.  

Given today marks the 5th anniversary of George Floyd’s death, we stood with Seattle during the 2020 George Floyd demonstrations. As the demonstrations turned riotous, we were then ordered to protect public buildings and infrastructure at all costs. As a result of these riots and political pressure, our elected leaders decided to surrender a police precinct. We were also prohibited from entering major sections of our city to answer 911 calls. People died as a result. Untold amounts of property destruction occurred. Scores of police officers were injured. The city paid out millions of dollars. Sadly, this was one of the major reasons that has led to our current police staffing crisis. This is Seattle’s public safety political reality.
 
SPOG welcomes a mayoral review of yesterday’s Seattle Parks Department’s decision to allow a demonstration permit for families who wanted to exercise their 1st amendment rights at Cal Anderson Park. What we are struggling to understand is, why was this park chosen and authorized, especially when this park is commonly known as the heart of ANTIFA land. We have no doubt that this city decision, as naïve or deliberate as it was, put police officers in an untenable predicament. Whether it’s our job or not, we were once again ordered to put ourselves into a political quagmire.  SPOG understands we will once again get blamed, and more calls will be heard for more accountability. This is Seattle’s public safety political reality.

To be clear, WE DO NOT have the proper staffing to handle any more of these demonstrations that turn into mass arrests. Even more importantly, we as a police union understand that this city lacks the political will to allow police to use the necessary tools to hold back criminal mobs to protect life and property. This once again, puts lives in danger. Haven’t we learned from 2020? Will our prosecutors and judges hold these criminals accountable? Will the activists call for more police accountability? This is Seattle’s public safety political reality.
 
Presently, 28% of the city’s remaining 847 deployable police officers (284) are eligible to retire. If yesterday is a precursor of future events, we may see what was previously described as Seattle’s “Summer of Love” once again turn into Seattle’s Summer of Violence and the decimation of a once renowned police force. This is Seattle’s public safety political reality.
 
Moving forward, the Seattle Police Department is hiring.
 
Seattle Police Officers Guild

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