Opinion | Who Desires to Be a Seattle Cop?

The mayor needs a bonus of as much as $7,500 for brand new recruits and as much as $30,000 for officers who come to Seattle from a police division elsewhere. He proposes paying for shifting bills. Negotiations with the police union proceed, however Mr. Harrell says he additionally needs “a complete and aggressive financial bundle to retain officers.”

The additional cash can be useful. However exit interviews with departing Seattle cops present that many officers don’t wish to work in a metropolis the place they’re vilified by the press and politicians. Final fall the Metropolis Council minimize police funding for a second yr in a row, even after Seattle residents elected the law-and-order candidates for mayor and metropolis legal professional.

General crime within the metropolis rose 10% final yr, and that’s in comparison with the already elevated 2020 ranges. Violent crime rose by 20% as Seattle recorded probably the most aggravated assaults in a decade. Property crime additionally elevated, with larceny theft up 15% and arson 31%.

Starbucks

stated final week it would shut 5 shops in its hometown of Seattle due to rising crime and dysfunction.

Fewer officers now work longer hours to cope with extra crime, which additionally makes it onerous to recruit and retain police. Mr. Harrell’s report notes that “this actuality is contributing to exhaustion and low morale amongst officers.” It should take years to undo the hurt wrought by the defund-the-police motion.