The city of Seattle is known for its progressive politics, and has drifted even further left in recent years. Some members of the city police force are saying that this has come into conflict with law enforcement and are even leaving the force as a result.
The FOX News Insider reports:
Seattle Police Union VP: Officers ‘Fed Up’ With City’s Politics Are Leaving the ForceA Seattle Police Officers Guild official says many officers are leaving the city’s police department because they’re “fed up” with Seattle’s politics.Rich O’Neill, the group’s vice president, said Sunday on “Fox & Friends” that “a number of issues” are weighing down on the city’s officers, causing them to find work elsewhere.According to Q13 FOX, 41 officers have left the city’s police department this year, many of whom frustrated by the city’s politics.O’Neill said Sunday that Seattle Police Department officers have not received a pay raise in more than four years, even while the city is “booming.””The number of officers on the street [is] pretty much the same as the 1970s, which is just alarming,” he said.O’Neill told Q13 FOX that local officials “are allowing certain crimes to go on without accountability.”…O’Neill said that as many officers leave the department, it’s difficult to find people who want to join the force because of “all the anti-police rhetoric that’s out there.”
Anti-police sentiment has been a staple of the far left for years but reached new heights in recent years with the Black Lives Matter movement.
One member of the Seattle City Council, Kshama Sawant, is a socialist who rose to prominence during the Occupy Wall Street protests. She is mentioned in a recent report by Q13 FOX:
The union says Councilmembers Mike O’Brien and Kshama Sawant have been very critical of the police department. They say Sawant calling two officers murderers quickly after an officer-involved shooting was inappropriate.
Chris Enloe of The Blaze has more on this:
Report: Seattle police flee city in ‘mass exodus’ over city’s liberal, anti-police politicsNearly four dozen police officers have resigned from the Seattle Police Department this year in what is being described as a “mass exodus” over the city’s increasingly liberal and progressive policies…While many of those who have left this year retired, 20 or so left Seattle to work for other cities, states and law enforcement agencies. The reason for the “mass exodus?” O’Neill said officers are frustrated with the city’s liberal policies and lack of support from local officials.“It’s just depressing to serve in a place where many City Council members who are coming out at times with negative comments about the police,” O’Neill said, explaining many officers are leaving Seattle for neighboring jurisdictions.A source who spoke to KCPQ under the condition of anonymity confirmed O’Neill’s explanation.“Worker bees on the street, they don’t feel appreciated. I’ve never seen anything like this in my life,” the source said.
Are the people of Seattle OK with this? And more importantly, what is the end game here? Is the city’s far left council prepared to operate with a limited police force?
Featured image via YouTube.
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