31 ms·

The Fall of Seattle

16 points by leephillips 5y ago

ZeroGravitas 5y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copaganda https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copaganda The picture of the officer with her dog is close to satire. They literally mention that they had to change their processes as a result of a consent decree: https://www.seattle.gov/police/about-us/professional-standards-bureau/settlement-agreement-history https://www.seattle.gov/police/about-us/professional-standar...
- ratsmack 5y ago
  There is a similar phenomena that happens with healthcare and other public servant entities. It all boils down to self serving propaganda.
- edmcnulty101 5y ago
  Yeah but the crime statistics aren't copagabda. Statistics that parallel defunding of the police.
- yucky 5y ago
  https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/law-justice/dont-have-a-clue-it-turns-out-washington-state-set-a-murder-record-in-2020-but-no-one-knows-why/ https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/law-justice/dont-h... https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/king-county-murder-rates-break-records-seattle-prepares-even-fewer-officers/ZN2KBKHD3VAN5MILLNJTBM47EM/ https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/king-county-murder-rates-br...
ratsmack 5y ago
>What happened to Seattle? The answer, of course, depends on your politics. This is laughable.
trenning 5y ago
[flagged]
rossdavidh 5y ago
I would like to hear from any Seattle residents who are among HN readers, as to how accurate they think this article is in regards to the behavior of the City Council and former mayor. Obviously if you're not a police officer it would be difficult to know what conditions were actually like in that job, but the article also portrays a city government making some very anti-police statements, and I'm wondering how accurate that is, or if it is being taken out of context?
- vineyardmike 5y ago
  The council did make very aggressive statements in the height of the George Floyd movements. Mostly after the SPD defied court orders and city law to not use tear gas on crowds - and tear gassed the city council. The city did defend the police after judges came after them for defying court order. Take that how you will. The actual passed policy has been WAY more water down. And the rhetoric around defunding mostly died in 2020. The SPD, like many large cities, has had its share of issues and court orders etc. Suburban people tend to not know the political power of police in cities and also their propensity to be the center of scandal. https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/court-order-city-council-law-didnt-stop-seattle-police-from-using-pepper-spray-projectiles/ https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/court-ord...
- cjwilliams 5y ago
  Our elected City Council does not make crime a priority. It also continues to be popular to recast the realities of unchecked drug abuse and crime, as housing affordability issues. The new mayor and city attorney are diverging slightly from this, but it's an uphill battle since the bulk of government here and especially the judges make leniency a priority. And the populace is obviously very liberal, so calls for accountability are muffled by disappointment that the well intentioned zeitgeist around policing needs to be more nuanced. The issue is also influence by many non-progressive-law-and-order liberals migrating to the soulless suburbs/eastide. Despite all of this, there's no other city I find more desirable in the US. People want to be here regardless of increasing crime (still lower than comparable US cities); though the issue of drug related homelessness is also a growing problem (everywhere).
vineyardmike 5y ago
1. Something needs to be done, because the article is correct that downtown is becoming worse than it has been in recent memory. Many businesses have closed and boarded up without re-opening. Seattle is becoming SF in terms of street issues but without the vibrant SF culture to keep people going outside. Seattleites love to stay in side it seems. 2. I’ve talked to police officers in seattle - who were currently on duty- who choose to ignore reported issues because “we’re defunded. We can’t do that now”. And I know I’m not the only one who had cops tell them as much. Why fund any police if the ones on duty don’t do their job? The SPD would rather complain about politics instead of doing their job yet they want more money?
GauntletWizard 5y ago
https://youtu.be/CUO8secmc0g https://youtu.be/CUO8secmc0g
- SixDouble5321 5y ago
  This video is age restricted. It will be unviewable by a large number of users.
SixDouble5321 5y ago
"Seattle is dying" arguments are so tired. Seattle has a lot of whiners who think the place should never change and are thoroughly intolerant of people who don't have a home. They are willfully ignorant that their lifestyle and choices could be exacerbating the problem.

16 points by leephillips 5y ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copaganda https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copaganda The picture of the officer with her dog is close to satire. They literally mention that they had to change their processes as a result of a consent decree: https://www.seattle.gov/police/about-us/professional-standards-bureau/settlement-agreement-history https://www.seattle.gov/police/about-us/professional-standar...

ratsmack 5y ago
There is a similar phenomena that happens with healthcare and other public servant entities. It all boils down to self serving propaganda.
edmcnulty101 5y ago
Yeah but the crime statistics aren't copagabda. Statistics that parallel defunding of the police.
yucky 5y ago
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/law-justice/dont-have-a-clue-it-turns-out-washington-state-set-a-murder-record-in-2020-but-no-one-knows-why/ https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/law-justice/dont-h... https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/king-county-murder-rates-break-records-seattle-prepares-even-fewer-officers/ZN2KBKHD3VAN5MILLNJTBM47EM/ https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/king-county-murder-rates-br...

ratsmack 5y ago

>What happened to Seattle? The answer, of course, depends on your politics. This is laughable.

trenning 5y ago

[flagged]

rossdavidh 5y ago

I would like to hear from any Seattle residents who are among HN readers, as to how accurate they think this article is in regards to the behavior of the City Council and former mayor. Obviously if you're not a police officer it would be difficult to know what conditions were actually like in that job, but the article also portrays a city government making some very anti-police statements, and I'm wondering how accurate that is, or if it is being taken out of context?

vineyardmike 5y ago
The council did make very aggressive statements in the height of the George Floyd movements. Mostly after the SPD defied court orders and city law to not use tear gas on crowds - and tear gassed the city council. The city did defend the police after judges came after them for defying court order. Take that how you will. The actual passed policy has been WAY more water down. And the rhetoric around defunding mostly died in 2020. The SPD, like many large cities, has had its share of issues and court orders etc. Suburban people tend to not know the political power of police in cities and also their propensity to be the center of scandal. https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/court-order-city-council-law-didnt-stop-seattle-police-from-using-pepper-spray-projectiles/ https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/court-ord...
cjwilliams 5y ago
Our elected City Council does not make crime a priority. It also continues to be popular to recast the realities of unchecked drug abuse and crime, as housing affordability issues. The new mayor and city attorney are diverging slightly from this, but it's an uphill battle since the bulk of government here and especially the judges make leniency a priority. And the populace is obviously very liberal, so calls for accountability are muffled by disappointment that the well intentioned zeitgeist around policing needs to be more nuanced. The issue is also influence by many non-progressive-law-and-order liberals migrating to the soulless suburbs/eastide. Despite all of this, there's no other city I find more desirable in the US. People want to be here regardless of increasing crime (still lower than comparable US cities); though the issue of drug related homelessness is also a growing problem (everywhere).

vineyardmike 5y ago

1. Something needs to be done, because the article is correct that downtown is becoming worse than it has been in recent memory. Many businesses have closed and boarded up without re-opening. Seattle is becoming SF in terms of street issues but without the vibrant SF culture to keep people going outside. Seattleites love to stay in side it seems. 2. I’ve talked to police officers in seattle - who were currently on duty- who choose to ignore reported issues because “we’re defunded. We can’t do that now”. And I know I’m not the only one who had cops tell them as much. Why fund any police if the ones on duty don’t do their job? The SPD would rather complain about politics instead of doing their job yet they want more money?

GauntletWizard 5y ago

https://youtu.be/CUO8secmc0g https://youtu.be/CUO8secmc0g

SixDouble5321 5y ago
This video is age restricted. It will be unviewable by a large number of users.

SixDouble5321 5y ago

"Seattle is dying" arguments are so tired. Seattle has a lot of whiners who think the place should never change and are thoroughly intolerant of people who don't have a home. They are willfully ignorant that their lifestyle and choices could be exacerbating the problem.