Latest news with #Resolution32167
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Seattle city council approves resolution to cut ties with 'Defund the Police' movement
Seattle's city council unanimously approved a resolution on Tuesday to end any commitments to defund the police. After the death of George Floyd in 2020, the slogan and movement to "Defund the Police" swept the country. Yet in the wake of a reported rise in crime in multiple cities across the country, politicians, even in Democratic Party strongholds, have sought to distance themselves from the idea. Last week, Rob Saka spoke with fellow members of Seattle City Council's public safety committee about his recently introduced Resolution 32167, to recognize work to improve public safety. The councilmember said at the time, "This resolution reverses any prior commitment or pledge by past councils to defund or abolish the police. We know that these statements were routinely cited by departing police personnel as a reason for leaving. We also know that they are very divisive." Defund The Police 'Isn't Dead,' It's Just Taken New Form With Massive Implications: Retired Police Chief He made headlines again at the city council meeting this week. Read On The Fox News App "'Defund' is dead if this passes, that's the headline!" Saka said at Tuesday's meeting shortly before the final vote where the bill was passed unanimously by the city council. Local news outlet, the Everett Post, reported that next, "Seattle City Attorney Ann Davison will submit the last remaining Seattle Police Department policies to a federal monitor for review." "This legislation allows us to collectively heal from the shameful legacy of 'Defund' and, importantly, officially pivot towards a diversified response model that communities so desperately need," Saka added in his speech before the vote. Saka recalled the irony of how the council that voiced support for the "Defund the Police" movement in 2020 had no Black members at the time. Click Here For More Coverage Of Media And Culture "Ironically, at the time those 'Defund' commitments and pledges were made in the city of Seattle, there were zero, zero Black or African-American, African-descent councilmembers serving in the council at the time," he said mocking the idea that such commitments were made in the best interests of Black Americans like himself. "I didn't benefit from that," he said. "No communities that I'm involved with benefited from that. It hurt all communities!" He reiterated his point and declared, "As a Black man, I'll say, look, Black and Brown communities, we don't need White saviors." After saying that the Black community is both capable of speaking for itself and not a monolith, Saka argued that the commitment to the "Defund the Police" movement had been made after "people cherry-picked specific voices and specific perspectives from our Black community here in Seattle and held it up as 'the perspective.'" "It's not," he said. "Wasn't then, it's not true now."Original article source: Seattle city council approves resolution to cut ties with 'Defund the Police' movement
Fox News
03-04-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Seattle city council approves resolution to cut ties with 'Defund the Police' movement
Seattle's city council unanimously approved a resolution on Tuesday to end any commitments to defund the police. After the death of George Floyd in 2020, the slogan and movement to "Defund the Police" swept the country. Yet in the wake of a reported rise in crime in multiple cities across the country, politicians, even in Democratic Party strongholds, have sought to distance themselves from the idea. Last week, Rob Saka spoke with fellow members of Seattle City Council's public safety committee about his recently introduced Resolution 32167, to recognize work to improve public safety. The councilmember said at the time, "This resolution reverses any prior commitment or pledge by past councils to defund or abolish the police. We know that these statements were routinely cited by departing police personnel as a reason for leaving. We also know that they are very divisive." He made headlines again at the city council meeting this week. "'Defund' is dead if this passes, that's the headline!" Saka said at Tuesday's meeting shortly before the final vote where the bill was passed unanimously by the city council. Local news outlet, the Everett Post, reported that next, "Seattle City Attorney Ann Davison will submit the last remaining Seattle Police Department policies to a federal monitor for review." "This legislation allows us to collectively heal from the shameful legacy of 'Defund' and, importantly, officially pivot towards a diversified response model that communities so desperately need," Saka added in his speech before the vote. Saka recalled the irony of how the council that voiced support for the "Defund the Police" movement in 2020 had no Black members at the time. "Ironically, at the time those 'Defund' commitments and pledges were made in the city of Seattle, there were zero, zero Black or African-American, African-descent councilmembers serving in the council at the time," he said mocking the idea that such commitments were made in the best interests of Black Americans like himself. "I didn't benefit from that," he said. "No communities that I'm involved with benefited from that. It hurt all communities!" He reiterated his point and declared, "As a Black man, I'll say, look, Black and Brown communities, we don't need White saviors." After saying that the Black community is both capable of speaking for itself and not a monolith, Saka argued that the commitment to the "Defund the Police" movement had been made after "people cherry-picked specific voices and specific perspectives from our Black community here in Seattle and held it up as 'the perspective.'" "It's not," he said. "Wasn't then, it's not true now."
Yahoo
29-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Seattle city councilmember introduces resolution to acknowledge 'failure' of defund the police movement
Seattle councilmember Rob Saka introduced a resolution to completely cut ties with any commitments to defund the police. After the murder of unarmed Minneapolis resident George Floyd in 2020, the slogan and movement to "Defund the Police" swept the country. Yet in the wake of a reported rise in crime in multiple cities across the country, politicians, even in Democratic Party strongholds, have sought to distance themselves from the idea. On Tuesday, Saka spoke with fellow members of Seattle City Council's public safety committee about his recently introduced Resolution 32167, which recognizes work to improve public safety. These measures include appreciation for first responders, consent decree progress, police accountability, a diversified public safety response, and reversing "defund" commitments. The councilmember summarized, "This resolution reverses any prior commitment or pledge by past councils to defund or abolish the police. We know that these statements were routinely cited by departing police personnel as a reason for leaving. We also know that they are very divisive." Defund The Police 'Isn't Dead,' It's Just Taken New Form With Massive Implications: Retired Police Chief Fellow councilmember Maritza Rivera added that she has seen at least one constituent share his wish to see councilmembers "take a stance against the defund rhetoric that we've seen in the past in this city. He's not the only one I know who has requested this." Read On The Fox News App Four councilmembers ended up voting in favor of the bill, with none opposed and one absent, and the resolution will now be forwarded to the larger city council meeting on April 1. A city council press release summarized that the bill "Reiterates support for first responders, acknowledges failure of defund movement and embraces focus on underserved communities." "This Council, in collaboration with the Mayor's Office, has made improving public safety an absolute priority," Saka said in the announcement. "This is finally the time to acknowledge the lessons of the past and pivot decisively toward a better, future-focused public safety model. We are committed to making everyone in our community feel safe and to enhancing our accountability system." Mayor Bruce Harrell was also quoted, noting that rather than defund their police, the city has instead made progress in working to expand the force. "Seattle has made significant progress on reimagining policing since we agreed to the federal consent decree over a decade ago. We have created one of the most robust police accountability systems in the country. We hired more police officers last year than we lost for the first time in years, and applications are soaring," the mayor said. "To help our police officers focus on what they do best, we have diversified our response options by expanding the Fire Department's capabilities and we successfully launched our third public safety department and the CARE Crisis Response Teams," he added. Click Here For More Coverage Of Media And CultureOriginal article source: Seattle city councilmember introduces resolution to acknowledge 'failure' of defund the police movement
Fox News
29-03-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Seattle city councilmember introduces resolution to acknowledge 'failure' of defund the police movement
Seattle councilmember Rob Saka introduced a resolution to completely cut ties with any commitments to defund the police. After the murder of unarmed Minneapolis resident George Floyd in 2020, the slogan and movement to "Defund the Police" swept the country. Yet in the wake of a reported rise in crime in multiple cities across the country, politicians, even in Democratic Party strongholds, have sought to distance themselves from the idea. On Tuesday, Saka spoke with fellow members of Seattle City Council's public safety committee about his recently introduced Resolution 32167, which recognizes work to improve public safety. These measures include appreciation for first responders, consent decree progress, police accountability, a diversified public safety response, and reversing "defund" commitments. The councilmember summarized, "This resolution reverses any prior commitment or pledge by past councils to defund or abolish the police. We know that these statements were routinely cited by departing police personnel as a reason for leaving. We also know that they are very divisive." Fellow councilmember Maritza Rivera added that she has seen at least one constituent share his wish to see councilmembers "take a stance against the defund rhetoric that we've seen in the past in this city. He's not the only one I know who has requested this." Four councilmembers ended up voting in favor of the bill, with none opposed and one absent, and the resolution will now be forwarded to the larger city council meeting on April 1. A city council press release summarized that the bill "Reiterates support for first responders, acknowledges failure of defund movement and embraces focus on underserved communities." "This Council, in collaboration with the Mayor's Office, has made improving public safety an absolute priority," Saka said in the announcement. "This is finally the time to acknowledge the lessons of the past and pivot decisively toward a better, future-focused public safety model. We are committed to making everyone in our community feel safe and to enhancing our accountability system." Mayor Bruce Harrell was also quoted, noting that rather than defund their police, the city has instead made progress in working to expand the force. "Seattle has made significant progress on reimagining policing since we agreed to the federal consent decree over a decade ago. We have created one of the most robust police accountability systems in the country. We hired more police officers last year than we lost for the first time in years, and applications are soaring," the mayor said. "To help our police officers focus on what they do best, we have diversified our response options by expanding the Fire Department's capabilities and we successfully launched our third public safety department and the CARE Crisis Response Teams," he added.
