Seattle City Council Moves Forward With Some Police Cuts

SEATTLE, WA — The Seattle City Council on Wednesday approved a slew of amendments related to the police department's remaining 2020 budget, though the measures fall considerably short of the level of cuts sought by protesters and community groups.

As the meeting was taking place remotely, hundreds marched to City Hall in support of more immediate defunding.

Activists have called for a 50 percent cut to the police department's remaining 2020 budget, estimated at around $85 million, and the same level of cuts to the department's full 2021 budget. Councilmember Kshama Sawant's amendment seeking that level of immediate reduction failed to garner votes among her colleagues on Wednesday.

A majority of the council instead supports implementing deeper cuts in next year's budget, with discussions slated to begin in September.

The batch of amendments approved Wednesday seeks to decrease police spending by an estimated $3 million, adding to $20 million in reductions included in the mayor's rebalancing proposal. Under the council's plan, up to 100 officers would see their positions eliminated, through a mixture of layoffs and resignations.

Council members also approved amendments seeking to eliminate the Navigation Team, ending homeless sweeps, and diverting resources to expand the abilities of existing community groups to assist people experiencing homelessness. Other amendments ask the chief to eliminate school resource officers and make cuts to "specialized units," including SWAT, harbor patrol and the mounted unit.

The council also voted in favor of plans to cut pay for non-unionized executive leadership at the department, including Police Chief Carmen Best, for an estimated savings of $500,000 this year.

Wednesday's budget committee meeting began with rebuttals from several councilmembers in response to the mayor's remarks the day before, which characterized the council's actions as reckless, misguided and hasty.

Here are some highlights:

From Council President M. Lorena González:

"The simple fact is the mayor does not like our plan. She has a strong ideological opposition to our plan. The mayor does not agree with City Council and the people of Seattle — a majority of the people of Seattle — who believe that we need to substantially reduce the size and scope of the police department.

As a result, she is spreading misinformation and fear about what the council intends to do, in order to undermine our genuine efforts to transform community safety in our city."

From Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda:

"We're going to continue to work to right-size the department, and we know that the majority of folks within the city want to see the Seattle Police Department right-sized. It's not just what I hear, that comes directly from the Downtown Seattle Association poll that shows that over 50 percent of Seattleites support reducing funding for the police and increasing funding upstream for our community members."

"We're not going to be bullied into doing nothing. We'll continue to work together to advance where we can and come together collectively this fall as we work to do more."

"We want this to be a thoughtful, thorough and transparent conversation, and to make inroads where we can and continue our commitment this fall."

"I think that it's important that we show community members that we hear them, we are working toward the same goal and not just saying no."

The council voted unanimously to approve a package of 12 amendments, which includes initial reductions to sworn personnel, the mounted unit, public affairs, the harbor unit, SWAT team, and homeland security spending.

Sawant, who voted in favor of the plan, criticized her colleagues for not supporting more drastic, immediate actions.

"As a package, this affects about a couple million dollars of the police budget," Sawant said. "I believe that is under 1 percent of the remaining budget. This is absolutely nothing like the 50 percent defund that the community has demanded and the majority of the council has promised."

Councilmember Mosqueda, chair of the budget committee, said the amendments are merely the first steps on the way to more transformational changes in the months ahead.

"I want to reiterate that the work to achieve the cuts that we're talking about will happen over two budget cycles," Mosqueda said. "This is an unusual year, in that we have a summer budget cycle. The majority of our conversation that we want to get to will be informed this fall by the community-led research project that is identifying how we get there."

A council resolution provides a framework and general timeline for moving forward, and the council is seeking potential reductions of $175 million in police spending for next year. Another $53 million would be moved out of the budget to civilian departments, including moving 911 operations out of the police command structure, moving parking enforcement to the Seattle Department of Transportation, and placing victim advocates in the Human Services Department.

The full council is scheduled to hold an afternoon vote on the final 2020 rebalanced budget plan, on Monday, Aug. 10, including the amendments approved Wednesday. Budget discussions for next year are expected to begin in seven weeks.