Report: At Least 118 Seattle Officers Left Department in 2020

At least 118 police officers have separated from the Seattle Police Department (SPD) in 2020, according to a Thursday report.

“The separations included lateral-moves to other agencies and retirements. The bulk included those who resigned,” a Fox News article said.

Seattle Police Officer Guild President Mike Solan recently told the Jason Rantz Show on Seattle’s KTTH that “Your 911 call for help will go unanswered for a significant amount of time.”

The Fox News article continued:

The 39 seperations occurred in September after the Seattle City Council made good on its promise to approve sweeping proposals that would slash the police department budget by $4 million and cut as many as 100 officers from the force. The previous four months saw a high of 16 separations in August, compared to a low of 10 in both May and July. There have been at least eight separations in October so far, a source told Rantz.

Former Police Chief Carmen Best was reportedly included in the data after she stepped down from the department in September.

Rantz said there are now about 1,200 Seattle police officers in service.

In an email to officers on Thursday, interim chief Adrian Diaz acknowledged Rantz’s report, saying he knew the times are hard.

“I also have said I will do everything I can to keep this department whole. Each of you is needed. More people in this city want you doing your job than don’t,” Diaz noted.

“We are pursuing multiple ways to improve your day-to-day experience – I can only ask that you give us time to see if they are successful,” he said.

On September 22, the Seattle City Council overrode Mayor Jenny Durkan’s (D) veto and rammed through budget cuts activists called a “down payment” on an effort to defund the city’s police by 50 percent, according to Breitbart News.

“Mayor Durkan, who had initially backed the ‘Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone’ (CHAZ) or ‘Capitol Hill Occupied Protest’ (CHOP) protest in the summer, vetoed the proposal, but her veto was ineffective,” the report concluded.