Police and Public Safety

Seattle Police Crack Down on Black Lives Matter Protests and Continue to Resist Reform

Cities across America are on edge right now. Many have seen clashes between police and protesters, resulting in injuries, arrests, and destruction. It was...
Bruce Harrell sits at a desk signing some orders at City Hall with a dozen supporters looking on.

Bruce Harrell Stakes Claim to Center Lane in Seattle Mayor Bid

Former City Councilmember Bruce Harrell announced his bid for Mayor of Seattle today. While light on policy specifics, the themes Harrell stressed included decreasing...
A half dozen police and a medic team talk to a person in a wheel chair across from Pioneer Square Station. A police cruiser and ambulance are parked along Third Avenue.

Harrell’s Dual-Responder Proposal Would Fail to Civilianize Crisis Response

Seattle's road to a non-police alternative to address its behavioral health crisis has been a long, convoluted one. This month the new Community Assisted Response...

Op-Ed: Washington’s Legal Establishment Can’t Deliver True Justice for Our Kids

Washington’s legal establishment, led by King County Superior Court Judge David Keenan, are lobbying to fund more youth jails while doing little to expand a fractured social safety net. We, the public defenders of SEIU 925, reject Judge Keenan’s vague, misguided proposal.

Gun Violence in Schools Has Seattle Officials Scrambling

A string of school shootings has officials scrambling for answers. Mayor Bruce Harrell and County Executive Dow Constantine are pledging a surge in resources including mental health supports. But will it be enough?
Protestors gather behind a police barricade at the East Precinct building, chanting “Hands up, don’t shoot,” on Sunday, May 31.

Court Monitor Bobb Helped Create Seattle’s Police Reform Mess

Former Mayor Mike McGinn contends Monitor Merrick Bobb's top-down approach doomed Seattle's police reform efforts from the start--long before SPD's recent fall from grace...
In a night time image, dark police officer silhouettes emerge from an armored truck amidst a backdrop of a cloud of tear gas.

OPA, Seattle Police Violated Medical Privacy of Protester, Unearthed Investigation Reveals

Important questions remain despite a newly unearthed report, including how police first obtained sensitive medical information, why the City’s inspector general continued to be directly involved, despite recusal due to conflict of interest, and why the Mayor’s Office opted to hire and accept the findings of another external consultant, following the original investigation’s sustained allegations.

Holiday Video: A Brief History of Police Impunity in Black Deaths

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RYdItBIuOU America is supposed to be the land of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, but for so many Americans, particularly Black Americans, this...