New Seattle Police Contract Approved By City Council

SEATTLE, WA - The Seattle City Council approved a new police contract Tuesday. But while the contract includes standard items like pay raises, some groups opposed the contract because it changes police accountability legislation.

The Council voted 8-1 on Tuesday afternoon to approve the contract. Councilwoman Kshama Sawant was the sole "no" vote. U.S. District Court Judge James Robart, who is overseeing the Seattle police consent decree, will also have to approve the contract.

The new contract will cover six years between 2015 and 2020. Police officers will get 3 percent raises retroactively for 2015, 2016, and 2017. Officers will get a 3.65 percent raise for 2018 and a 3.85 percent raise for 2019.

The contract will also change some parts of the Police Accountability Ordinance, a law passed by City Council in May 2017. A group of 24 community groups last month sent a letter to City Council rejecting the proposed contract, suggesting the police "accountability system would be diminished" under it.

The citizen Community Police Commission (CPC) has also rejected the new contract. The CPC helped create the Police Accountability Ordinance. Activists came to the Council meeting Tuesday to speak against the contract.

Mayor Jenny Durkan helped negotiate the contract.

"This contract is critical to meeting the public safety needs of every neighborhood and community in our city and continue the important job of reform while helping ensure Seattle can hire and retain the best police officers," she said in a statement in October.

File photo by Neal McNamara/Patch