Police and Public Safety

Mayor Bruce Harrell’s office appears to have deleted or is withholding a contract used to make a crucial legal decision regarding the Mayor’s newly-minted Chief of Staff, Andrew Myerberg. Harrell’s office appears to be violating the terms of the settlement agreement reached with the Seattle Times in 2023 over the widespread deletion of text messages in the Durkan administration.

Last week, the Seattle School Board rejected a year-long pilot program to install a police officer inside Garfield High School in a 5-2 vote. School board directors cited a chaotic process, community distrust, and a need to finetune the plan.

Mayor Bruce Harrell has proposed a 0.1% sales tax hike for public safety investments, including doubling the size of the civilian CARE department. However, CARE’s future rests on cooperation from the Seattle Police Officers Guild, which has sought to limit the fledgling agency in the past.

Mayor Bruce Harrell has pledged to complete labor negotiations with the Seattle Police Officers Guild before the end of the year. But facing a tough reelection fight, he might not be around to sign the deal, which challenger Katie Wilson may want to renegotiate anyway.

Last week, the Seattle School Board was scheduled to vote on a pilot program that would return police to Garfield High School, but delayed the vote to October 8. Critics have argued better ways exist to promote safety, and that a return of police could contribute to the school-to-prison pipeline and disparate outcomes for Black and brown students.

This week, the Seattle City Council took a controversial 7-2 vote to greatly expand the Seattle Police Department’s surveillance pilot program, as proposed by Mayor Bruce Harrell. Public comment was overwhelmingly against the idea, and progressive candidates also criticized the move.

On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge James Robart granted the motion to terminate Seattle’s consent decree, ending a saga of federal police oversight that began 15 years ago. Community safety advocates say issues remain at the Seattle Police Department and more reforms are needed.

Mayor Bruce Harrell is proposing to expand his three-month-old surveillance pilot program by installing more police cameras and funneling data from hundreds of traffic management cameras into the Seattle Police Department’s real-time crime center. The move has draw criticism from civil liberties groups.