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Inequality didn't cause this. Inequality didn't suddenly spring up mid-2020. Defund the police did. Our prosecutors openly saying they wouldn't prosecute all

Inequality didn't cause this. Inequality didn't suddenly spring up mid-2020. Defund the police did. Our prosecutors openly saying they wouldn't prosecute all but the most serious crimes did. Our police force shrinking did. And police deciding it was better to turn a blind eye to crime than risk going viral did. People blaming this on all their favorite pre-existing issues (racism, evil police, inequality, etc.) means the issues will not be fixed and things will get worse before they get better. Seattleites as a people just aren't serious enough to fix the issues. It took Seattle a few decades to make downtown a welcoming and safe place again after the bad ol' days. And then we undid it in 24 months. It's madness.

time_to_smile 5y ago
> Inequality didn't suddenly spring up mid-2020. Defund the police did. But this is a problem that has perpetually growing in Seattle. There were growing tent cities in the area long before "defund the police". If you went to Seattle in the 90s you would see many of these same issues. Yes things are getting worse now, but so are the income related issues as well. The idea that this is primarily driven by something happening in recent years is a bit ridiculous.
techsupporter 5y ago
We didn't defund the police; Seattle PD took an 18% budget cut that was largely the result of declining to enlarge the department and moving some tasks, like parking enforcement, out to other departments. Also, SPD has something like 230 open positions for officers. That said, we would prefer that they not take the tack of "shoot first and dodge OPA later," if they wouldn't mind. "Our prosecutors" is not the City of Seattle. The Seattle city attorney does not have the authority to prosecute anything above simple misdemeanors. It's up to the county who gets prosecuted and who doesn't, and King County has said that county policy is that you can't arrest people into better conditions. > safe place again after the bad ol' days. And then we undid it in 24 months Pardon? Are you really saying that downtown is less safe and less inviting than downtown in the 80s and 90s? You are aware that the waterfront largely did not exist back then, that violent crime in 98101 was almost six times its current amount back then? That the number of people living in downtown has rebounded from its COVID-induced trough and is now 4% higher than before? I have lived through those "bad ol' days" and also the "good times" you mentioned and to say that downtown is undone and worse now than it was before, to quote an esteemed colleague, "is madness."
manuelabeledo 5y ago
> Defund the police did. There has never been any correlation between police expenditure and crime. If there was, NYC would be the safest city in the US.
immibis 5y ago
Did Seattle start experiencing crime for the first time in mid-2020?

time_to_smile 5y ago

> Inequality didn't suddenly spring up mid-2020. Defund the police did. But this is a problem that has perpetually growing in Seattle. There were growing tent cities in the area long before "defund the police". If you went to Seattle in the 90s you would see many of these same issues. Yes things are getting worse now, but so are the income related issues as well. The idea that this is primarily driven by something happening in recent years is a bit ridiculous.

techsupporter 5y ago

We didn't defund the police; Seattle PD took an 18% budget cut that was largely the result of declining to enlarge the department and moving some tasks, like parking enforcement, out to other departments. Also, SPD has something like 230 open positions for officers. That said, we would prefer that they not take the tack of "shoot first and dodge OPA later," if they wouldn't mind. "Our prosecutors" is not the City of Seattle. The Seattle city attorney does not have the authority to prosecute anything above simple misdemeanors. It's up to the county who gets prosecuted and who doesn't, and King County has said that county policy is that you can't arrest people into better conditions. > safe place again after the bad ol' days. And then we undid it in 24 months Pardon? Are you really saying that downtown is less safe and less inviting than downtown in the 80s and 90s? You are aware that the waterfront largely did not exist back then, that violent crime in 98101 was almost six times its current amount back then? That the number of people living in downtown has rebounded from its COVID-induced trough and is now 4% higher than before? I have lived through those "bad ol' days" and also the "good times" you mentioned and to say that downtown is undone and worse now than it was before, to quote an esteemed colleague, "is madness."

manuelabeledo 5y ago

> Defund the police did. There has never been any correlation between police expenditure and crime. If there was, NYC would be the safest city in the US.

immibis 5y ago

Did Seattle start experiencing crime for the first time in mid-2020?