(Tony Sifert, Headline USA) Budget cuts have forced the Seattle Police Department to deprioritize cases of rape and sexual assault, included those involving children, according to KUOW.
Sexual assault cases in my city are being moved to the back burner because Bruce Harrell and SPD want to focus resources on “visible crime,” prioritizing the wants of the well-paid and the business community over real public safety. https://t.co/12PGZIrQfO
— #FreeMarvinGuy (@GNCordova) April 8, 2022
Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell has adopted a “new policing strategy” that prioritizes “visible crime,” including homelessness, KUOW reported.
“Since Harrell assumed office, at least seven patrol officers have been moved over to help empty tent encampments,” a whistleblower told KUOW. “Seattle officers are targeting . . . people purchasing and selling drugs, and stolen goods from big-box stores.”
“Meanwhile vulnerable crime victims who desperately want and need help from SPD are being put on hold,” the whistleblower, a SPD employee, continued. “And people in the sexual assault unit are left wondering . . . why couldn’t one or two have been assigned to them?”
During his campaign, Harrell claimed that one of his priorities was “getting people out of parks and streets and into stable housing with the on-site services they need.”
The Mayor’s Office cited “limited resources” and a staffing crisis in response to KUOW’s report.
“Any lack of urgency around sexual assault investigations or arrests is wholly unacceptable,” the Mayor’s Office said in a statement.
“When we assumed office, the SPD Sexual Assault Unit had a depleted number of deployable staff and our evaluation of these limited resources underscore the need for increasing SPD staffing to ensure justice for survivors.”
Having to rely on one of the most woke city council’s in the United States for funding can’t be helping matters.
The Seattle City Council has twice voted to defund the police, according to the Wall Street Journal.
In November, 2021, the city council “voted 8-1 for a 2022 city budget that cuts police funding by more than $7 million” one year after defunding the police to the tune of $35.6 million, the Journal’s editorial board reported.
The Associated Press reported in April 2021 that more than 200 Seattle police officers resigned between 2020 and 2021, bringing staff to “record lows.”
