Our communities are united!

It really is about the overarching lack of respect for the officers. Council President Lorena González called Monday’s vote a “down-payment for future potential reductions” to the department’s budget. Since the George Floyd uprisings this summer, the ongoing protests in the city have been focused on not only defunding Seattle Police Department by at least 50%, but also ensuring those funds get re-invested into Black communities. PLEASE SUPPORT INDEPENDENT MEDIA Patreon | Facebook | Venmo | Cash App | PayPal, © Copyright 2020. Seattle PD chief resigns after cuts to police budget The Seattle City Council on Monday voted 7-1 to reduce the police department’s budget by $3.5 million Can’t do it.’’. Best’s surprise departure marked one of the most notable big-city police department shakeups in the aftermath of nationwide demonstrations spurred by the May 25 death of George Floyd, a Black man, who was pinned under the knee of a white Minneapolis police officer. Opponents say cuts in policing threaten public safety. We looked at protester demands from across the nation and compared them with recent police reforms. As the city gears up for a heated debate that will determine how public funds are spent for all of next year, these two community-led efforts are important steps towards actualizing some of the ongoing protests’ goals. “This budget fails to address the systemic racism of policing," she said in a statement. Seattle's Police chief has spoken out against a plan proposed by advocates to cut the police department budget by 50 per cent and reallocate the money to other community needs. The mayor also chided the City Council, whose vote Monday to reduce the force and its budget represented the first step in the process of reimagining policing and public safety. The measures would trim a little under 1% of the department’s more than $400 million annual budget this year and reduce the department's 1,400 police force by up to 100 through layoffs and attrition. In recognizing that, “Our struggles to build a more equitable Seattle are interconnected,” the letter asserts that, “Divesting from police systems and investing in Black communities goes hand in hand with climate justice work and housing justice work.” Early signers included KCEN, Decriminalize Seattle, Puget Sound Sage, 350 Seattle, Got Green, and Choose 180, but within an hour of its release, the list swelled to over forty organizational endorsers and is growing by the minute. "It’s why it’s been so mystifying to watch the City Council plow ahead without ever consulting her. Participatory Budgeting represents the next step in making the vision behind the demands a reality. “Mayor Durkan needs to understand that we have little interest in her political games of divide and conquer. 'Perfect storm': Defund the police, COVID-19 lead to biggest police budget cuts in decade. Graphic video footage of the fatal encounter stirred a public outcry against heavy-handed police tactics and racism within the U.S. criminal justice system, triggering months of street protests in cities across the country amid the coronavirus pandemic. Post was not sent - check your email addresses! At a White House briefing on Tuesday, Trump praised Best for doing “a very good job,” adding, “I think Seattle has made a tragic mistake.”. “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,” Durkan said in a statement after the vote. While there’s a lot to reveal about where this year’s budget process will land, there’s one thing we know for certain. The Mayor is still holding on to $14 million that is supposed to be dedicated to scaling up community responses that don't rely on policing, including $4 million for a Black-led gun violence intervention project. She made a promise to Seattle's Black community and she needs to deliver on that $100M promise. King County Equity Now put forward specific demands to cut the Seattle Police Department Budget by 50% and reinvest that money in true community safety and well-being. CLICK HERE TO TURN ON NOTIFICATIONS. This experience should be a lesson to state and local leaders about the real costs of irresponsible proposals to defund the police. Best, 55, cited the council’s decision not to consult her more thoroughly ahead of the cuts, which will force the layoff of about 100 officers, as a major factor in her decision. Julie-C is a community organizer, cultural advocate, educator, and Hip Hop artist hailing from the Coast Salish Autonomous Zone/Technocratic City-State of Seattle. “Working together we can ensure a democratic, participatory budget process where we the people decide how our money gets spent to improve our lives and communities.”. Support the #SolidarityBudget for a Truly Democratic, Participatory Budget Process in Seattle, On Tuesday morning, in anticipation of Mayor Durkan’s budget announcement, #SolidarityBudget was launched via open letter by a coalition of racial justice, environmental justice/climate, and art and culture organizations, labor unions, service providers, and other community groups who “refuse to be pitted against each other, to battle between ourselves over millions of dollars in the city budget, while billions of dollars have been guaranteed decade after decade to police and imprisonment of our community members.”. Here are ways to support the Black Brilliance Community Research Project at KCEN and #FreeTheFunds: Take the community needs assessment to take part in the process. Mayor Jenny Durkan, who picked Best to lead the department in 2018, appointed Deputy Chief Adrian Diaz as the interim chief. She joined the department in 1992. She alluded to that when mentioning an e-mail she received from a young, Black officer who had recently joined the Seattle force and was looking forward to serving under her. The Seattle mayor and its outgoing police chief pointed the finger directly at the City Council for the latter’s unexpected departure amid a national reckoning about the role of policing. Council member Kshama Sawant was the only one to vote against the budget package, saying it does not do enough to defund the police.

GET BREAKING NEWS IN YOUR BROWSER. Photo by Erik Kalligraphy of Converge/Contemporary Love Affair. While this messaging sounds good, Durkan’s actions have shown consistent reluctance to answer calls and honor commitments to the movement in her own backyard. Her plan to convene a community task force to disperse the funds is no replacement for the 2021 participatory budgeting process communities have been fighting for.

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