Seattle Police to Residents: We Can’t Protect You

Alice Green

6 years ago

&NewLine;The Seattle Police Department won&&num;8217&semi;t be protecting residents or their property during demonstrations this weekend thanks to a new ordinance blocking the use of pepper spray and other non-lethal munitions&period;&NewLine;&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The legislation gives officers NO ability to safely intercede to preserve property in the midst of a large, violent crowd,” wrote Chief of Police Carmen Best in a letter to residents&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Seattle Police will have an adjusted deployment in response to any demonstrations this weekend &&num;8211&semi; as I will never ask our officers to risk their personal safety to protect property without the tools to do so in a safe way&period;”&NewLine;This is a shocking development for Seattle, especially after they witnessed the Capitol Hill Organized Protest (CHOP) and the violent crimes spawned by the lack of a police presence&period;&NewLine;In a separate letter to the City Council, Best warned of the coming violence&colon; &NewLine;&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;It is a fact that there are groups and individuals who are intent on destruction in our City,” she wrote, citing events on July 19th and 22nd that &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;included wide-scale property destruction and attacks on officers, injuring more than a dozen, some significantly&period;”&NewLine;Several demonstrations are planned for this weekend, likely involving the same &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;violent actors from recent days,” continued Best&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;There is no reason not to assume we will continue to experience property destruction, arson, looting, and attempts to injure additional officers throughout the weekend and beyond&period;”&NewLine;It would be &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;reckless” for the SPD to &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;confront this level of violence” without the tools &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;they have been trained to use to protect the community and themselves,” she wrote, adding that the ordinance will also prevent SWAT teams from carrying less-lethal tools&period; &NewLine;&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;As the City Council’s legislation goes into effect, it will create even more dangerous circumstances for our officers to intervene using what they have left &&num;8211&semi; riot shields and riot batons&period;”&NewLine;All precinct buildings in the city are being boarded up to protect against potential damage from protestors&period; &NewLine;Author&&num;8217&semi;s Note&colon; Seattle will be lucky if property damage is the only violence to occur this weekend&period; I expect to see rape, burglary, homicide, and other crimes increase until the ordinance is overturned&period; &NewLine;