Frustrated Seattle Police Chief: ‘Our Calls for Service Have More Than Tripled’ Since CHAZ Takeover
“These are responses to emergency calls—rapes, robberies, and all sorts of violent acts that have been occurring in the area that we’re not able to get to,” Seattle police chief Carmen Best told reporters.
While Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan (D) has described the six-block “Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone” (CHAZ) in the city as being “more like a block party” with the potential to turn into a “summer of love” than an “armed takeover” or “military junta,” Seattle’s police chief is painting a much different and far more troubling picture of what’s happening when news cameras aren’t rolling.
Police chief Carmen Best released a video statement to her officers on Thursday, telling them the decision to abandon the East Precinct, which is the base for the CHAZ, was out of her control. She stated that “to have a change of course nearly two weeks in” was like “an insult” to the officers and to the community, but that “ultimately the city had other plans.”
Best also talked about the reports of armed protesters patrolling the zone, the alleged shakedowns of local businesses, the alleged demands for people to show IDs, and the alleged threats to burn down the police precinct.
Watch:
She also said Thursday to reporters that police were not able to respond quickly to 911 calls for violent crimes including rapes in the area because of the zone barriers:
“Our calls for service have more than tripled,” she told reporters. “These are responses to emergency calls — rapes, robberies, and all sorts of violent acts that have been occurring in the area that we’re not able to get to.”
At the press conference with Durkan, who claimed the occupants of the “Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone” (CHAZ) were engaging in an act of “patriotism,” Best remained noncommittal on a when police might return to the area, but explained that the evacuation had come after reports the precinct could be burned down.
“We were asked to do an operational plan, in case we needed to leave,” Best said, not saying who exactly gave the order to withdraw. “We got an update that there was the potential for fire — of course if the precinct goes down in fire, the whole block could potentially burn up.”
Watch:
Seattle Police Chief: “Rapes, robberies and all sorts of violent acts have been occurring in the area and we’re not able to get to.” pic.twitter.com/SRtJoR4due
— Gerry Rainbolt (@Idiocracy__Now) June 12, 2020
Best told a local news station Friday that the goal was for police to take back the precinct ASAP without harm coming to any of the officer or occupiers:
Seattle protesters continued their fourth day occupying the blocks around an abandoned police precinct Friday, as the city’s top cop said she wants back inside “as soon as possible.”
“Ideally, we just need to get back into the building,” Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best told local station KIRO-7.
“People are looking for a plan, but we want to make sure we modulate anything that we’re doing,” Best told the station.
“We don’t want to exacerbate or intensify or incite problems that are going to lead to harm to the officers or the people who are standing by,” she added.
The power dynamic here is especially interesting, considering the alleged racial basis for the hostile takeover by radical Black Lives Matter and other activists to begin with. The police chief is black and wants to be more aggressive in taking back the precinct (and, in effect, the city), but Mayor Durkan and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, both of whom are white, appear to be overruling her at every turn and making ridiculous statements to the media sugarcoating what’s happening at the CHAZ.
This is like Occupy Wall Street all over again, and it’s dangerous. What’s happening in Seattle in the “autonomous zone” is not a First Amendment-protected protest. Media outlets like CNN and MSNBC and Democratic “leaders” like Durkan and Inslee need to stop gaslighting America as to what’s going on. It’s straight-up anarchy, is anything but “peaceful” once the cameras are turned off, and should not be allowed to go on.
They need to treat this situation just as they would if it were Tea Partiers or Reopen marchers taking over six blocks of an American city: Shut it down in the safest way possible, and soon.
— Stacey Matthews has also written under the pseudonym “Sister Toldjah” and can be reached via Twitter. —
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Comments
Not a surprise in the least. The people who hate the police as much as these people do are criminals, insane, or both.
This whole episode is insane.
When you don’t keep a lid on crazy for 24 years of bush/clinton/bush/obama-clinton(and boehner/mccain), you get “Chaz”.
Bono or Palmenteri?
Seattle is getting the government they voted for.
Unfortunately, other communities will vote in the same type of people because all they are seeing on the news and reading in their local papers is how Trump is over-reacting to this “mostly peaceful” protest, complete with pictures of the quiet children listening intently to street-speakers and planting a garden
That is only partially true. I did not vote for Obama, but as an American citizen I ended up with him has my President. I have not looked at the Seattle stats, but I’d bet there are a fair number of Seattle residents who did not vote for the touchy-feely current mayor. I think it is most unfortunate that they are caught up in this ridiculous fiasco.
True, they may not have cast a vote for the communist mayor, but did they support her election implicitly in other ways?
Did they not vote at all because her opponent was not “pure” enough?
Did they not actively support (i.e. donate $$) her opponent before the election?
OK, I’ll play. How do you know they DIDN’T try to get someone good elected? How do you know they DID stay home due to purity issues?
How many angels dance on the head of a pin?
How many angels dance on the head of a pin?
*********
42
By your logic the losing side always deserves whatever the winning side dishes out. I guess you have always been on the winning side, which puzzles me, given your comments.
Majority rule always oppresses the minority. Individual rights are never a consideration. Why any sane person supports the principle is beyond me.
RationalAnarchist
Minority rule always repress the majority.
#Apartheid
#Bolshevik
#Maoism
May as well eliminate the SPD if they’re not going to do their job.
When you replace reason and ration with emotions and identity this is what you get.
Every. Single. Time.
Enjoy it good and hard….
They need to treat this situation just as they would if it were Tea Partiers or Reopen marchers taking over six blocks of an American city: Shut it down in the safest way possible, and soon.
______________________________________________________________
if you think this is in any way like an ” Occupy ” event(or similar)you are mistaken–these are ARMED thugs, doing as they please, to innocent american citizens and the police/authorities hands are tied?–tied by what?–the primary mission of any police force is the protection of the public–the chief needs to act–the mayor/city administration are no longer in control of the city
Why has no one mentioned the social security numbers they bound to be are stealing.
And that mayor Jerk handed them the key to city hall
virtually…..
Um, what? How does this allow them to steal SSNs?
I think you are correct that the Occupiers didn’t carry arms and some of these people are, but other than that what is the difference between them?
On that one difference, it seems to me that it makes the case for retaking this zone weaker than the case for retaking all the Occupied zones was. These occupiers being armed means that retaking the zone will be more dangerous than removing the Occupiers was, and so should be considered with more caution. So if our “esteemed leaders” let that situation go on for two months, how much more so this one.
The only difference I see is that this time we have a President whose heart is not with the occupiers, so there is a chance he can convince the local authorities that if they don’t act he will treat it as an insurrection and them personally as accomplices.
The rioters at Occupy Wall Street were unarmed primarily because Wall Street is a gun-free zone. Washington State has constitutional open carry and more than 10% of its adult population have a concealed pistol license.
The antifa little bastards should be shot like the dangerous scum they are. We should take a lesson from the Lenin story–if he had been killed instead of being given a slap on the wrists. think how much better off the world would have been
The antifa little bastards should be shot like the dangerous scum they are. We should take a lesson from the Lenin story–if he had been killed instead of being given a slap on the wrists. think how much better off the world would have been. This is not true only of the Lenin story–if Hitler had been short and killed during his attempted 1923 putsch, how many millions of lives
would have saved.
Well, they have been declared ‘terrorists’ by Barr.
Then Barr went back to sleep.
Deploy National Guard, or even military. Take out all armed defenders. Swat these clowns hard.
Categorise BLM as a terrorist organization, arrest, charge, prosecute.
That seems to be what they want.
It’s impossible to “categorise BLM as a terrorist organization” because there is no such thing in US law. The only similar category is “foreign terrorist organization”, which BLM can’t be because it isn’t foreign.
Anyone in BLM who commits terrorist acts can of course be prosecuted for them, but that doesn’t require any kind of designation; the acts are what they are and can be prosecuted as such. But the organization, such as it is, can’t be designated as anything because there’s nothing to designate it as. Giving material support to Antifa, or BLM, or any other such group, isn’t and can’t be made a crime.
I hope the Seattle cops hold off a few more days. Things should get really interesting when the Bikers for Trump including Angels, Mongols and Nomads, roll in in a few days.
The group denies that there is a call to action in Seattle and think leftists are behind this disinformation campaign: https://m.facebook.com/bikersfortrump/
Rumors abound.
When they do, THEN, you will see the police.
This is going to end in some sort of mass killing by those who rule CHAZ trying to enforce their will or those contesting that rule. The Mayor and Chief of Police need to be indicted as accessories.
Subotai Bahadur
A Jim Jones Drink the Kool Aid moment?
Weak Police Chief delivers excuses and blames others. No action to protect the true victims.
Solution – more “gun control” laws to disarm the innocent.
The police chief has to obey the mayor’s orders. She made it very clear that she disagrees with them.
She “says” now that she opposed it. Seriously, is there any evidence either way that she opposed it before things went Tango Uniform? We are at the point where unsubstantiated statements by officials are not automatically credible.
Subotai Bahadur
That’s right, Subotai.
The City Journal article quotes Best immediately after the retreat as saying “this is a experiment in trust and deescalation,” only later in a supposedly “leaked” internal video to rank and file cops did she mention orders to retreat. Best needs a scapegoat or she loses the confidence and support of rank and file riot cops.
My take on this is the mayor and chief both wanted to retreat from the cap hill precinct. This was a easy thing for the mayor, but it presented internal problems for the Chief. So they entered into a pact. The chief would claim she was ordered – by persons unknown – to abandon the precinct. And in return the mayor would simply remain silent on the issue.
The fly in the ointment? Some unknown entity ordered THE COMMANDER OF THE NATIONAL GUARD to retreat. Golly gee. Gosh.
She should just ignore the mayor and order the police into the area and clear out CHAZ.
She will of course get fired but she will have done the right thing.
She’s a political appointee and diversity hire…you really think she has the guts to do something like that?
Besides, lefty or not, most people don’t do things that are so blatantly at odds with their own career prospects, esp. in a loony left enclave like Seattle.
She may not be the best person for this. But it’s hard to do the right thing when your superiors have your back only with a knife.
When the police tucked tail and ran back in the ‘92 L.A. riots, the chief was a white male. It makes no difference; the object is to return safely to their families each night.
I don’t believe she can legally do that. She’d not only be fired but charged. What’s more, she’d be fired immediately, before the police could actually do anything, and the police would be ordered to stop. Any that defied that order would be charged with conducting a police riot, be convicted, and lose their pensions. Sorry, that’s the system, and we really shouldn’t want it any other way, even though in this case it works out the wrong way.
Wrong. Neither the Chief of Police nor his or her officers are bound, by law, to obey the orders of the mayor.
The Chief of police and all sworn officers of the police department swear an oath to uphold the laws of the state and local jurisdictions which they serve. Therefor, enforcing those laws, in violation of an order from a superior officer, is not a violation of law. The LEO can NOT be charged with any crime for taking enforcement action. In fact, any order NOT to enforce the law, can be considered a violation of law, misfeasance or, possibly, malfeasance in officer. The mayor or police chief can terminate the LEO’s employ for violation of policy and procedure, for failing to obey an order, thy will probably have to prove that the order was lawful at the reinstatement hearing for the officer. And, failure to follow civil LEA P&P carries no criminal penalty as a violation of the UCMJ does in the military.
It blows the mind that the Chief is worried that the police might “incite problems” with criminals, extortionists, thieves and hostage takers.
THEY did the inciting. The police should be responding to protect citizens in accord with the law.
WOW – just looked on the map. CHAZ is just a couple blocks north of Swedish Ortho hospital where I had major surgery a couple years ago. That makes up my mind about where I’m NOT having my next surgery.
Don’t forget the Rapes – lots of rapes.
Rapists the new Democrat Party mascot………
Just like Zuccotti Park.
Do you suppose that’s what the mayor means by “summer of love”?
Gutless police. Where did they get these fools Mosul?
Seattle PD has been under heavy criticism from the left for more than a decade now, because of their allegedly heavy-handed tactics and imputed racism. Many former members of the force had already left before these riots and those that remain are severely restrained by their political overlords.
So I don’t think it’s fair to call them gutless. Decimated and demoralized is closer to the truth.
Gutless politicians, on the other hand, we’ve sure got a lot of those around here.
People are suffering but it’s just a small amount of suffering so the scales of justice haven’t tipped against the mayor. The “community” outweighs the rights and needs of these expendable residents.
These are not your father’s Police Chiefs.
The downside of the “nationwide” searches for police executives, for the officers and the honest citizens, is that the COP has no base in the ranks or in the general population, and has no roots in the community. This leaves them totally dependent on the city administration for their job.
“Best told a local news station Friday that the goal was for police to take back the precinct ASAP without harm coming to any of the officer or occupiers…”
Fictional police detective Dirty Harry said it best: “What do you want me to do, yell ‘Trick or Treat’ at them?”
She also said they’re going to “modulate” whatever they do.
Wth does that mean?!?
Corky – modulate is a musical term and could mean the SPD plans to tune in on whatever dance tune the occupiers call and the SPD will respond in harmony.
Here’s hoping they call the 1812 Overture and not Afternoon Delight.
They could always surround the CHAZ with big PA speakers and play John Cage recordings at them…
For some reason, I’m reminded of Apocalypse Now and helicopters coming in over the water with Wagner’s “Ride of the Valkyries” booming over the loudspeakers.
Surf’s up!
Fox Butterworth does get around.
…make that Butterfield. Maple syrup on the brain, I guess.
“Mrs. Butterworth’s” and “maple syrup” do not belong in the same sentence.
“Ideally, we just need to get back into the building,” Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best told local station KIRO-7.
I’d say she has to set her sights a bit higher.
Getting into a building (if she ever manages to do it, of course) hardly justifies a chief’s salary.
She would not need to get it back if she had not surrendered it like a coward. She delivers weak words, nothing more.
She said she was ordered to do that, over her protests. And there’s really only one person who could have given her that order. She didn’t name her but she was standing right next to her.
City Journal on Carmen Best “this is an exercise in trust and de-escalation.” That quote came immediately after the guard and police retreat from the hill.
Best certainly makes no such claim she was “ordered” to withdraw in her supposedly “leaked” video to Seattle police officers.
I misspoke. She did claim she was ordered by persons unnamed.
I was at the grocery store and shanked it because shopping.
The mayor and chief entered into a mutually agreed upon pact; both wanted to retreat from the cap hill precinct. check up thread for specifics.
Heap big chief Quota-Hire speaks!
Always remember:
“You don’t need an AR-15 with 30 round magazines; the Police will protect you.”
And always know that Blue State Governors like New York’s Andrew Cuomo who doesn’t believe that you need more than 10 bullets to kill a deer thus limiting the size of magazines in his State, remains clueless that the larger sized mags are for protection from him and his Socialsit/Communist/Liberal Lunacy.
7, wasn’t it?
initially before he realized nobody made a 7 round magazine so had to reluctantly agree to a 10 round one.
HOWEVER your point is still extremely valid as the 10 round ones can ONLY be loaded with 7 rounds.
thereby making the sale of 10 round legal but the USAGE of fully loaded illegal.
so limited to 7 ubnder SAFE act.
nothing she can do really, could be fired before any order she tried to give would be enacted.
however…who would arrest her if mayor wanted it done?
unsure of protocol but can a police chief ask for federal assistance while mayor would be saying not needed? perhaps use videos of minorities and religious people getting messed with inside their “borders” and the dept being unable to do anything?
really woul dhate to see it come to that, would be way to easy to abuse, but maybe needed.