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Seattle, as an example, lost 1 out of 5 cops between 2020 and 2021. Crime, including violent crimes like murder, are all up. Closed cases are down. There are

Seattle, as an example, lost 1 out of 5 cops between 2020 and 2021. Crime, including violent crimes like murder, are all up. Closed cases are down. There are new lists of crimes that are “deprioritized” every few months. This last month it was a laundry list of crimes related to traffic safety, like expired tabs or missing license plates. A local businessperson that posted memes in 2020 about defunding the police just had his business ransacked again a few weeks ago. He then took to social media to complain about how Seattle is no longer safe and he may leave the city. It’s like people have completely lost grip with reality.

kelnos 5y ago
An anecdote about Seattle is not evidence of significant, widespread de-policing across the US. At any rate, de-prioritizing expired tabs and missing plates seems like a nothingburger.
- nostromo 5y ago
  > The U.S. murder rate rose 30% between 2019 and 2020 – the largest single-year increase in more than a century, according to data published this month by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/06/health/us-homicide-rate-increase-nchs-study/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/06/health/us-homicide-rate-incre...
  - altacc 5y ago
    Where’s the link to reduced policing? Crime rates are most definitely not as simple an equation as more police = less crime. There’s a myriad of factors at work and taking any simple assumption of a single cause and effect is bound to be wrong.
  - seanmcdirmid 5y ago
    I really hate news articles that talk about an increase in rate yet only show a graph of absolute numbers to reason about it.
taeric 5y ago
Such an odd example, though; as in that time they also lost a lot to people that refused to get vaccinated. :( Do you have a good link that lays out the numbers?
alistairSH 5y ago
How did it lose the cops? Was it actual de-policing, or did they just quit and go elsewhere on their own?
- vkou 5y ago
  They quit voluntarily. For some reason, SPD can't figure out how to hire people. Maybe it's due to their culture...
  - alistairSH 5y ago
    I have a few friends in Seattle and policing is definitely broken, particularly dealing with crime related to the homeless encampments dotted all over. No question about that.
manuelabeledo 5y ago
> Crime, including violent crimes like murder, are all up. Per capita? I'm looking at the crime stats in Seattle. For a city with a population growth of 2.2%, it doesn't seem that crime has gone up significantly. If anything, this proves that police does not prevent crimes.
- nostromo 5y ago
  Look at shootings and homicides, which are reported more consistency than low-level crimes (people have given up reporting many of these). 2020 was up 50%. And 2021 is outpacing 2020.
  - manuelabeledo 5y ago
    > And 2021 is outpacing 2020. There were less homicides in 2021 than in 2020. In total, there were less crimes in 2021 than in 2018, with a 2.2% population increase.
    - nostromo 5y ago
      Gun violence spiked in 2020, and continued to increase in 2021. https://www.gunviolencearchive.org/past-tolls https://www.gunviolencearchive.org/past-tolls "Homicide" is a fungible term, one that is gamed by city officials and prosecutors that want to show lower violence levels in their city. Gun violence totals are much harder to game. And those continue to rise in the US.
      - manuelabeledo 5y ago
        Where's Seattle in here? Also, it seems that, according to data, 2020 and 2021 have seen significantly less incidents than years 2015 to 2018. I don't think I get your point, though. This seems to point more towards gun control, than increasing police budgets.
weq 5y ago
Ahh buisness. The econonmic driver that keeps on driving, looking for tax breaks where-ever they can get them. Big buisness, you made your bed, now sleep in it. You missed the bit about 50+yrs of racism and class war fare that has created the America you live in today. Not a policy change from last year my friend. You are living in a sickness, just because you now are starting to to turn the tide, does not mean you will not have to deal with ongoing side-effects while the transition happens. At one point, we need to realise that this IS Capitalism. This IS the SYSTEM. This IS the product. Haves, and have nots. At some point, the have nots will not respect the system that entrenches them in servatude. That is why the Romans weaponised religious practices, fear of death is the only thing that overrides all...

kelnos 5y ago

An anecdote about Seattle is not evidence of significant, widespread de-policing across the US. At any rate, de-prioritizing expired tabs and missing plates seems like a nothingburger.

nostromo 5y ago
> The U.S. murder rate rose 30% between 2019 and 2020 – the largest single-year increase in more than a century, according to data published this month by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/06/health/us-homicide-rate-increase-nchs-study/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/06/health/us-homicide-rate-incre...
- altacc 5y ago
  Where’s the link to reduced policing? Crime rates are most definitely not as simple an equation as more police = less crime. There’s a myriad of factors at work and taking any simple assumption of a single cause and effect is bound to be wrong.
- seanmcdirmid 5y ago
  I really hate news articles that talk about an increase in rate yet only show a graph of absolute numbers to reason about it.

taeric 5y ago

Such an odd example, though; as in that time they also lost a lot to people that refused to get vaccinated. :( Do you have a good link that lays out the numbers?

alistairSH 5y ago

How did it lose the cops? Was it actual de-policing, or did they just quit and go elsewhere on their own?

vkou 5y ago
They quit voluntarily. For some reason, SPD can't figure out how to hire people. Maybe it's due to their culture...
- alistairSH 5y ago
  I have a few friends in Seattle and policing is definitely broken, particularly dealing with crime related to the homeless encampments dotted all over. No question about that.

manuelabeledo 5y ago

> Crime, including violent crimes like murder, are all up. Per capita? I'm looking at the crime stats in Seattle. For a city with a population growth of 2.2%, it doesn't seem that crime has gone up significantly. If anything, this proves that police does not prevent crimes.

nostromo 5y ago
Look at shootings and homicides, which are reported more consistency than low-level crimes (people have given up reporting many of these). 2020 was up 50%. And 2021 is outpacing 2020.
- manuelabeledo 5y ago
  > And 2021 is outpacing 2020. There were less homicides in 2021 than in 2020. In total, there were less crimes in 2021 than in 2018, with a 2.2% population increase.
  - nostromo 5y ago
    Gun violence spiked in 2020, and continued to increase in 2021. https://www.gunviolencearchive.org/past-tolls https://www.gunviolencearchive.org/past-tolls "Homicide" is a fungible term, one that is gamed by city officials and prosecutors that want to show lower violence levels in their city. Gun violence totals are much harder to game. And those continue to rise in the US.
    - manuelabeledo 5y ago
      Where's Seattle in here? Also, it seems that, according to data, 2020 and 2021 have seen significantly less incidents than years 2015 to 2018. I don't think I get your point, though. This seems to point more towards gun control, than increasing police budgets.

weq 5y ago

Ahh buisness. The econonmic driver that keeps on driving, looking for tax breaks where-ever they can get them. Big buisness, you made your bed, now sleep in it. You missed the bit about 50+yrs of racism and class war fare that has created the America you live in today. Not a policy change from last year my friend. You are living in a sickness, just because you now are starting to to turn the tide, does not mean you will not have to deal with ongoing side-effects while the transition happens. At one point, we need to realise that this IS Capitalism. This IS the SYSTEM. This IS the product. Haves, and have nots. At some point, the have nots will not respect the system that entrenches them in servatude. That is why the Romans weaponised religious practices, fear of death is the only thing that overrides all...