Big Police Defeat in Seattle Last Night

If statues of Christopher Columbus and Thomas Jefferson are being toppled with nary a complaint,  the United States is in dire need of a rebranding. Surely you would think that this is obvious to the ruling elite, but apparently it isn't, judging from the Republican policing proposal introduced yesterday.

Cities are sprinting ahead of the national government. A good example is here in Seattle where last night the Martin Luther King, Jr. County Labor Council (MLKCLC), my former employer, ousted the Seattle Police Officers Guild (SPOG). I recall a lot of council work went into SPOG, backing the guild in its contract negotiations with the city, etc, with little to show for the effort.

Now it's coming to light (see longtime city councilman Nick Licata's "Inside CHAZ: An 'Autonomous' Three Block-Long Seattle Street Threatens America, What?") that the decision to abandon the East Precinct police station was something of a wildcat strike by the guild, a petulant reaction to criticism over excessive use of force:

A resident of one of the nearby apartment buildings, whom I know very well, told me of her interactions with a police officer. She was standing in front of her building on Monday, June 8 at noon asking people what was going on. A police officer came by and announced, “We are all pulling out, and you’re all going to be on your own. We are not coming back in and you are not going to get help and bad elements will come in.” Then he added, “And who would want to work in Seattle [as police]?”

On the same day, June 12, that I visited CHAZ, Michael Solan, president of the Seattle Police Officers Guild, told Fox News “This is the closest I’ve ever seen our country, let alone the city here, to becoming a lawless state.” It would lead one to believe that the police union had lost faith in receiving political cover for their use of excessive force, if the city council and mayor were to allow protesters so close to their precinct station.

Police officers in Seattle are not allowed to strike, but they may have actually adopted an old fashion factory “walk-out” by letting the police chief know that they could no longer execute their usual police practices if they remained there.

The corrupt, feckless nature of large urban police forces is being exposed. Let's hope the "lawlessness" continues.