Are public officials failing to enforce the rule of law at CHOP?

There were three victims of gun violence in and around the CHOP over the weekend, and it has many asking whether utter lawlessness has taken over the area. Seattle Police Officers Guild President Mike Solan joined the show with his reaction to the weekend’s violence.

“Sadly, I predicted this would happen, which is unfortunate. And we don’t want any of that to occur anywhere in the city. Unfortunately, now it’s escalated to people losing their lives,” he said.

“This is a direct result of public elected officials who have failed to make critical decisions on behalf of enforcing the rule of law … I feel sorry for our community in general,” Solan added. “What is the endgame here? Because this is out of control.”

Solan isn’t just concerned about the community’s safety, he worries about officers heading into the CHOP area.

“My number one concern is the safety of the community at large in that area. And then, are the officers being inserted into an area that puts their safety at grave risk? As we saw in the body cam footage released from Saturday morning, it’s absolutely a really dangerous situation,” he said.

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“We’re being prevented to insert ourselves to render first aid and provide safety for the fire personnel to go in there to render first aid as well. So a very, very tenuous situation, to say the least.”

What’s his reaction to the suggestion by some activists that the cops are not actually being prevented from going into the CHOP?

“I think the video speaks for itself, and that’s why I’m calling on city officials as well to release the body cam footage and the closed circuit television footage from the East Precinct on those nights when the fight for control of the East Precinct was being played out night after night,” he said.

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“It will turn back the council’s claim that this was police invoked violence … I bet you that body camera footage and the closed circuit television footage will show that those criminal agitators were assaulting the police officers who were following chain of command orders to hold the line,” Solan said. “And so body cam footage will show, as it did on Saturday morning, how dangerous the situation was and not just for police, the fire department personnel, but the community at large.”

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