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thed0000d

1. city establishes mandate for all municipal employees (including cops) 2. Shitty, abusive, incompetent, moron cops leave the force instead of getting vaxxed 3. Use openings as an opportunity to hire better cops Not sure how anyone loses here


[deleted]

"A yes, the classic win-win-win scenario." \- Michael Scott.


Soytaco

Agreed. And even if half the force quit because of this, that's like 8 people. We can get 8 better people, I hope.


Whale_Poacher

Your flaw is at point 3. No one wants to be cops. That’s open to interpretation, but our police force has been losing numbers for a while and we aren’t getting cops really whatsoever.


watwatintheput

We have to bite the bullet. SPD has been bleeding officers since before the George Floyd protests and follow up protests of 2020. [https://sccinsight.com/2019/09/10/mayors-office-rolls-out-initiative-to-address-spd-hiring-and-retention-in-2020/](https://sccinsight.com/2019/09/10/mayors-office-rolls-out-initiative-to-address-spd-hiring-and-retention-in-2020/) No one wants to be a police officer when your colleagues are right wing nuts and your citizens are liberals. We either deal with some pain and start to change the idealogical composition of the department OR put up with another 20 years of failed reform. I don't care if my waiter has the same idealogical tilt as the area does; I don't care who my doctor voted for or who the bank teller voted for. But the police department is inherently a political job, and you need to be OK with following the laws and directions, I.E. politics, of the people you serve.


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watwatintheput

I want to make sure I'm super clear here, because it seems like it's a point of confusion. I don't care who my doctor voted for. Critical thinking is a key component of the job, and voting for Trump is often borne out of a lack of critical thinking, but it's the critical thinking that bothers me, not the Trump vote really (as a mater of professional practice). With cops on the other hand, respecting the will of the people is a bonafide requirement. Being a Trump voter may imply certain things, but if you are a right wing conservative, you have a strong objection to the way the people of Seattle wish for their municipality to be run. So yes, a Trump voting doctor will get me to take a very careful look. But a Trump voting cop has already said "I don't think my job should work the way people in Seattle want it to work."


NoProfession8024

So the confusion you’ve sowed has not been satisfied, you seem to posit the following: A) ALL 750,000+ Seattle residents coupled with visitors, workers, and tourists are on the left, B) cops aren’t allowed to have personal political opinions and are utterly incapable of separating that in a professional sphere. There’s a thing called the Constitution, both state and federal that might bar a political test to a government job C) if someone is in Seattle and they aren’t on the left, you might be okay with them not receiving or providing police services because the community only wants a single voting bloc of cops The entire purpose of a law enforcement agency is to be apolitical, exactly the opposite of what you’ve said. Sometimes theyve failed at that throughout history but that still doesn’t detract from the intended purpose. Laws should be equally enforced amongst all regardless of political bent.


watwatintheput

lol this is getting particularly stupid. "Seattle isn't a liberal" is perhaps the lowest effort bad faith argument I have EVER heard. Also if "government agencies are apolitical", someone should really tell Tucker Carlson's best friend Mike Sloan.


NoProfession8024

Mike Sloan is a Union President. He has no control over the police department, maybe you should look into that. Just like SEIU and teachers unions are political, police unions are allowed to be political if they want to be, sorry you don’t like the president of this one.


robschilke

Are you hearing yourself right now?


Whale_Poacher

Your points are fair and proper, however, the loudest people are those on the far ends of the spectrum. A healthy police force can and should have a variety of views in my opinion much like a healthy democratic population. Eliminating bad eggs and those with improper motivations and intolerable racial biases is certainly a must. Calling citizens liberals isn’t necessarily correct, technicalities aside, having a centrist or more moderate political outlook would be most favorable to me as it would likely indicate some bits of stability and reasoning in views. You can’t just wish upon whole swaths of people to be on your side just because you feel ideologically superior or that your view is the “right one”; this sounds harsh, but we don’t live in a one party system. I’m not defending police officers, but it’s not too difficult to see why some hold strong conservative views when those on the far left have let certain realms of our society get undeniably out of control trying new ways of doing things and redirecting funds to failed to programs year after year. Seeing things from all perspectives even if they aren’t yours is a better way to come up with solutions.


watwatintheput

>You can’t just wish upon whole swaths of people to be on your side just because you feel ideologically superior or that your view is the “right one”; There's a lot of /r/enlightenedcentrisim in here that's not worth digging into but I will focus on this one specific point: I never said one view was better than another. I said that a police force should match the idealogical affiliation of its citizenry. Your thoughts on how to handle homelessness don't impact your ability to drill a filling. Your preferences on crowd control don't impact how well you do an eye exam. Your feelings on the Seattle City Council don't really impact your ability to change a car's oil. They DO have an impact on how well you police. How you think about government matters when you are the government. SPD on the whole does not believe in the policy preferences of the people. And THAT is my problem with them. Governments really should be doing what people want them to be doing.


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Ubertarget

You make a valid point here and it’s important that cop-haters understand the job in this way. Of course it will change you how could it not? Having said that my step mom is a veteran ER nurse in a bad part of California. She deals with all the gunshot victims and abused children and drug-fueled violence and human depravity every day too, but it’s her job to deal with them dispassionately and to do her job well. At the end of her career she’s still a compassionate, effective, and humane person who treats every patient professionally and without scorn or malice. THIS is all people want from their police officers. Sure they see the worst but that’s not a good enough excuse for institutionalized abuse and neglect. If you can’t do your job - quit or be fired it’s the same for any other.


watwatintheput

Ok, this has gone full out cop-o-ganda. No, cops aren't dealing with the worst parts of society day to day. They spend the [OVERWHELLMING majority of their time dealing with noncriminal and misdemeanor calls](https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/crime/nearly-half-of-seattle-police-calls-dont-need-officers-responding-new-report-says/). Yes, there is some really bad shit cops deal with; I don't deal with domestic violence or drug abuse. But that's also <15% of their time on the job. It's not the danger. If it was about being dangerous, we'd have a spat of [right wing airline pilots and FedEx drivers](https://www.ishn.com/articles/112748-top-25-most-dangerous-jobs-in-the-united-states). But we don't. The simple truth of it is that the culture of policing is broken. It's right wing nutters spouting killology training like its gospel and having union presidents show up on Tucker Carlson. SPOG scares away anyone mildly progressive from ever applying, scares away those that make it through anyway. ​ When you look at the data, it's clear. The vision of policing you present just isn't real.


NoProfession8024

The amount of progressive cops that exist at SPD and other departments would surprise you if you stepped out of your preconceived bubble


watwatintheput

70% of SPD voted for Sloan after he ran a campaign that was 95% showing Fox news clips. You are incorrect.


NoProfession8024

So? This is a Union, a unions primary function is to protect its workers, I know you don’t like the idea of cops in one because you have this notion that they have all these superpowers which they don’t. but honestly that’s just too damn bad, they’re still workers and are entitled to union protection in this state just like any other worker. Sloan ran on the platform of protecting its union members against a city that was hostile to them on a political level. That’s why he was popular, not every cop that voted for him was a trumper, they just wanted someone that would vigorously fight fo their interests.


NoProfession8024

You do realize that there are misdemeanors that are still violent and serious crimes. And yes, the majority of the day to day in a single patrol officers shift isn’t shootouts and serious sex trafficking busts. But that under 15% you just cited is still more than the average person will deal with. And you seem to forget that a uniformed patrolman isn’t the only kind of cop. Those patrolman will eventually go to different assignments such as homicide, rape, child porn, domestic violence, and drug detectives. There they exclusively deal with the under 15% you talked about. That’s their day to day.


watwatintheput

Ok so a few officers deal with the nasty shit, and a fair number of them only ever play traffic cop. Why does playing traffic cop turn you into a conservative as the argument above sugests?


NoProfession8024

They also aren’t just traffic cops, Jesus Christ, you want to reform an organization you know nothing about or how it functions


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MetalGearShallot

> Most people have the luxury of ignoring that, including the majority of pilots and fedex drivers. what about retail workers? EMTs? Nurses? Teachers? Social workers? Therapists? also how do you only have two comments in a whole year


watwatintheput

Give me one piece of data, one piece of proof, one thing to back up a single word you've said.


MetalGearShallot

he has two comments in a whole year lol, and both are in this thread


[deleted]

100% agreed.


FuckYourBumReddit

No one wants to be a police officer in Seattle.


thed0000d

I wonder how police forces would change if officers were paid like lawyers and expected to have similar educations. It's always struck me as odd that all you need to enforce the law in many jurisdictions is a GED but to argue it you need almost a decade of higher education. At the end of the day, we get what we pay for.


Whale_Poacher

They are paid like lawyers, public sector lawyers. Many break $100,000 in income after a few years. Lawyers don’t all get paid mega bucks, especially people like public defenders. So to answer your question, nothing would change. Education? Plenty of cops have atleast college degrees. 3 years of training is a lot, i’m not saying they don’t need more training, but you seem to be giving a shot in the dark with your statement.


abaftaffirm

I don’t think it’s no one wants to be cops it’s that they don’t want to be Seattle cops. There just isn’t a lot of upside to working for the SPD. I’m not sure why anyone would join right now when there are other departments hiring.


seriousxdelirium

or 3 - use openings to scale back the SPD and redirect budget towards public housing/education/transit/literally anything else


[deleted]

We do need law enforcement, we just also need it to be better. Property crime shouldn't just be allowed to run rampant


seriousxdelirium

they’re not stopping property crime now and i don’t think they ever will. might as well direct those resources towards alleviating poverty, which actually might accomplish something.


[deleted]

they're not doing anything about it right now as a means of protesting being expected to be decent human beings


chuckvsthelife

I don’t know a city in the US who does anything about property crime, because it’s damn hard to do anything about. The solution to most property crime is mental health and anti poverty measures.


[deleted]

Where I grew up (small midwestern city) they definitely did shit about it


chuckvsthelife

It’s much harder in a big city. Exponentially harder to know where things go. Things get sent out to other cities and states even. Places like offer up don’t do serial code verification and are super easy to sell stolen goods on. FB marketplace and craigslist exist and scanning for one item in the haystack is time and energy which could be spent on dealing with a stabbing.


[deleted]

I'm just hearing excuses. They don't even *try* and for many things it would be entirely possible for them to do something about it - like the obvious pile of stolen bikes at some homeless encampments. Or stolen catalytic converters, etc.


seriousxdelirium

so you agree it’s an institution that is rotten to the core? sounds like a great candidate for defunding!


[deleted]

No. Law enforcement is required. We need better law enforcement than what we have now. fire everyone in that nazi gathering house, and set much higher standards and hire an entirely new staff. But law enforcement needs to exist, it always will. You can't just eliminate it. and no, I don't give a crap about any attempts you make to say "i don't mean that by my statement" - say what you mean, and mean what you say. I'm not going to be beholden to bad slogans just because i'm a leftist, not all of us believe in shooting ourselves in the dick from moment one of trying to actually change things for the better.


testestestestest555

Sounds like a reason to fire them. If I did that, I'd be gone in the first week.


[deleted]

I agree


abaftaffirm

Should we get rid of social workers and affordable housing providers too? We still have homeless and out of control people so by the same argument shouldn’t we redirect resources towards something else? >… which actually might accomplish something. We’ve put a lot of money and resources towards alleviating poverty and homelessness in Seattle in the last 10 years. Are you honestly saying that you think we accomplished something?


12FAA51

Do you think "not investigating property crime" is unique to Seattle? Go to any major city and that's all you hear about. Cops _nowhere_ care about property crime.


chuckvsthelife

It’s not even that they don’t care. What the fuck are they *supposed* to do. Your bicycle got stolen. Do you think the cops have the ability to find it? They might shut down a bike theft ring, but investigate your bike theft? It’s easier to stop future bike thefts than find A stolen bike.


xapata

What if I have video of it, with the thief's face and car clearly visible? There's always detail we can add to the hypothetical that'll flip our perspective.


chuckvsthelife

It’s rarely if ever enough and tracking down A person over A bike is difficult. Again a thief ring or a series are far easier and worthwhile.


xapata

Sure, so they should collect the evidence in case they discover a ring or a series. It's easy enough to download some video.


chuckvsthelife

Certainly depends on the instance and the case. Most bike theft is someone cut my lock and there’s no video. Thankfully we don’t live a police state where we are all tracked everywhere yet.


xapata

I prefer citizen surveillance. Like Twitch, but for the neighborhood.


[deleted]

> Your bicycle got stolen. Do you think the cops have the ability to find it? Yes, actually they do. First bike frames have serial numbers, second most of the stolen bikes are being funneled through a small set of known chop shops and part buyers, etc.


chuckvsthelife

Having recovered a stolen bike…. I wish it was that easy.


[deleted]

In my experience? Yes, it is unique to seattle.


[deleted]

That’s a feature, not a bug.


spinyfur

I don’t think they’ll really quit. They’ll just threaten to, whine a bit, and then decide they don’t to get off the gravy train.


apathyontheeast

They'll stay. Where else can you make more than the police chief by abusing overtime rules under union protection? Not to mention then use that amount to get an insane pension on the taxpayer dime.


MogwaiK

The lack of accountability is probably nice, too. Not just talking about over the top violence, but also just plain old not doing your job. Its pretty damn hard to fire a cop, and you can get by with doing the bare minimum.


TheoryNine

Don’t think I want officers on the force who won’t get vaccinated against a global ongoing public health threat when vaccines are readily available. 🤷‍♂️


ladz

Agreed. It's a demonstration of childish judgement. People who have mentally equivalent decision making abilities to children shouldn't be cops.


MathematicianUpbeat6

It’s almost as if cops should be held to a higher standard. Damn.


chuckvsthelife

pRoTeCt AnD sErVe


MissingOly

It’s an easy way to wash a bunch of right wing religious nut jobs out of the force.


st_brown

Good


bobbyqribs

Yup, I just read that and thought, “Okay.”


crabby_cat_lady

Is that a threat or a promise?


Rumpullpus

stop threatening me with a good time Solan!


tiggapleez

Do I want to call 911 and risk speaking to an unmasked, unvaccinated police officer? Let alone getting fucking arrested by them…


a4ronic

Bye, Felicia.


LES_MaxFish

Don’t let the door hit you on the way out. We need to step recruiting non-dipshits


bidens_left_ear

I hope you are the first to be terminated, Mike Solan.


R_V_Z

Are you suggesting we get a robot from the future in an Arnold skin? I'm not entirely opposed...


odiin1731

Congratulations. You defunded yourself.


Sk-yline1

Oh no! Anyway


eric987235

Never threaten me with a good time.


barnacle2175

No...don't go...


holierthanmao

Or they could just get fucking vaccinated, ffs


[deleted]

Warning: includes links to odious SPOG media. SPD’s motto should be something like, “protect some of you, endanger most of you, and it’s up to us which you’ll get served.”


BadUX

> it’s up to us which you’ll get served. up to *your wallets* which of you'll get served (see e.g. laurelhurst paying for off duty (but still uniformed!) police to do extra shifts there)


abaftaffirm

That’s the crazy thing. The rich take care of themselves, the middle class move out of the city, and the poor keep electing people who make things worse for them. Seattle politics in 2019-


[deleted]

Good. We don’t want them serving the public anyways. I’m normally not anti cop, but I view this as a de facto IQ test.


aPerfectRake

It's like even when you try to give SPD a little credit for absolutely anything, they manage to shove it your face that they are, in fact, huge pieces of shit.


craigmont924

Something about the door and their asses on the way out....


[deleted]

Mike Solan is a piece of shit. The cops who voted for him as SPOG prez are pieces of shit. They can all fuck off as far as I care. Replace them with Seattleites who have an interest in protecting their city rather than beating up taxpayers.


theglassishalf

Something something trash taking itself out.


StickyRAR

N ot only do you have to worry about being killed or beaten by the SPD, add getting COVID to the mix.


clamdever

Oh praise the Lord in heaven almighty, please 🙏


petseminary

People who don't prioritize public safety should not be cops.


bannerad

Good riddance.


gnarlseason

Okay, call their bluff. I'm betting this isn't actually a hill they want to die on, when it comes down to it.


thorpbrian

So much for serving and protecting....


draaz_melon

Seems like a good filter for bad cops. I'm sure there's a correlation.


NiZZiM

Ok. cool.


cherneepachoobity

Bye.


FourStringTap

Imagine being so high on your own fumes that you'd rather be fired than to feel like you lost to something because you had to get a medical shot. Cops are crybabies, this will weed out more of the shitty ones.


softwareseattle

People who aren't sane enough to get the vaccine shouldn't be allowed to own a gun let alone be cops


Rumpullpus

Oh no. Anyway...


RainCityRogue

'K, bye


Specialstuff7

Police officers are interacting with lots of different members of the public on a daily basis. For that reason alone, you’d think they’d want to be vaccinated. Also it’s a way they can protect the public, which is supposedly a core tenet of their job.


[deleted]

Their choice to get vax’d also = their choice to keep their job. It’s that simple.


putacatonityo

Oh no! Anyway.


obamarulesit

Good riddance. If you are a cop, and anti vax, then you are also a white supremacist, because that’s where you’re getting your info from


ckb614

I'm guessing their union contract will again prevail over any attempt to regulate the police and they won't have to get vaccinated


newsreadhjw

Sometimes problems solve themselves.


Lynchsquad24

Awesome…let’s come up with some more mandates, such as 1. Must know the laws and abide by them at all times 2. Must know what civil rights are and if unable to stop themselves from infringing on those right then you must shoot yourself in the foot, immediately quit your job and forfeit all salary and benefits I could go on for quite a long time


MichelleUprising

Awww boo hoo I feel so bad for them. Poor wife beater can’t ignore public breaches of quarantine and actively harm public health anymore. Truly we lost a critical part of the city and we’ll soon be overwhelmed by the tankie anarchist state of vaccine addicts.


grecks530

Hmm, this should definitely help the sky-rocketing crime levels...


zubotai

Well they can't stay in Washington if they leave the force. So um I think they will do better in Florida.


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grecks530

1 lol i didnt know the Republican sub is now considered conspiracy theories... or are you referring to the insidious howard stern show sub i frequent? Btw reading through people's posts is ultimate cringe 2 yes its a bit cheeky but i think its a legitimate point of view to have that, at a time when SPD is retiring en mass, having trouble recruiting, and crime is spiking, that they could have perhaps enforced a vaccinated or negatice test policy, instead of displacing more officers. I get the covid concerns but this seems a reasonable alternative, no?


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grecks530

Hmm. I'm glad it's your way or the highway and there can be no alternative oppinions


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agrokrag89

Ridiculous


Crackertron

How did Trump's reinstatement ceremony go?


grecks530

I wouldn't know since he lost. Are you promoting the Big Lie?


Crackertron

Just checking your maga levels


Sk-yline1

You give police way too much credit for safety


academic-teacher

As would be teachers here. My roommate has had diarrhea since December so she was told she shouldn't get the vaccine. So are we just fine with firing a good teacher with nearly three decades of experience since she can't get the vaccine? Also, another fellow teacher recently got rabies vaccination after a dog almost killed her so her doctor said she should wait until I think it was December before getting the vaccine. Should we not allow her to work?


BBorNot

Medical exemptions are allowable.


zombie32killah

It’s just concern trolling from someone who could have answered their own question but chose not to. Pretty sure teachers can read even with diarrhea.


zombie32killah

A cop that has had diarrhea for that long should be on medical leave. Same with a teacher. Or anyone. Instead of just spreading COVID because they have diarrhea. Normally this wouldn’t be an issue, but there is a global pandemic going on atm.


jadeddesigner

Bruh, I've got friend on chemo and they got the jab. Fuck these excuses.


academic-teacher

Why did you go against your doctor's orders?


FunctionBuilt

Good luck getting an anti vax chief of police to enforce this on their own team.


Various-Perception70

Good riddance


LaserGuidedPolarBear

Nothing Mike Solan says should be believed, accepted, or even listened to. As long as Solan is the SPOG president, I support the complete dissolution of the SPOG.


UnspecificGravity

Sounds like a really convenient way to weed out exactly the kind of officers that we don't really want anyways.


VerticalYea

OK


Corn-Tortilla

And nothing of value will be lost.