Rantz: Seattle CM Teresa Mosqueda politicizes sexual assault victims to stop sweeps

Seattle Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda helped lead the movement to defund the police in 2020. Now, she’s feigning anger over the news that the Seattle Police Department is so understaffed that it’s not investigating adult sexual assault cases.

Down 100 detectives, and nearly 500 officers since 2020, the SPD is seldom able to consistently staff patrol to respond to 911 calls. To meet staffing minimums in every precinct, across every watch, the SPD leans on non-patrol units to respond to emergency calls. They’re barely getting by.

This problem did not exist before the SPD was defunded. Mosqueda put the department in this position, and her anger is contrived. In fact, she’s using victims of sexual assault to stop homeless sweeps.

Rantz: Seattle Police crisis worsens, on track to lose nearly 200 cops this year

Shameful Mosqueda feigns anger

Taking to Twitter, Mosqueda declared that victims of sexual assault “deserve to be prioritized.” But she doesn’t actually believe that.

“Sexual assault investigations were deprioritized while seven new officers went to encampments, 2x as many officers now investigate property crimes. This is a management choice & a poor one,” she tweeted.

It’s not that she wants victims of sexual assault to be prioritized; she wants to stop homeless sweeps and enforcement of laws against property crimes.

She wasn’t done exploiting these victims for political gain, either.

“Support for survivors means investigating the crimes, housing, paid leave, childcare, counseling, etc. All critical services Council has increased support for in our last two budgets, but remain underfunded, esp compared to the policing budget,” she tweeted.

If it sounds like she’s implying she’d like to defund the SPD budget even more, you’re likely reading the tweet correctly.

#Survivors deserve better.
They deserve to be prioritized. Sexual assault investigations were deprioritized while 7 new officers went to encampments, 2x as many officers now investigate property crimes. This is a management choice & a poor one https://t.co/X2trEbcfBF

— Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda (@CMTMosqueda) June 3, 2022

The audacity of Mosqueda

There are policing demands in the moment that require staff. The audacity she has to complain about a staffing crisis she caused is mindblowing.

Seattle is experiencing a surge in crime and when 911 calls come in, they demand a response. Since the department is so understaffed, the Command Staff have no choice but to augment patrol from specialty units. While it’s undoubtedly important to investigate past sexual assault claims, the SPD needs enough officers to respond to a sexual assault in progress. Thanks to Mosqueda’s defunding, the department is barely scraping by.

Mosqueda also seems to think encampment clean-ups are not worthy of attention. She is upset that Mayor Bruce Harrell is actually starting to clean up a city that’s looked like a dumpster for the last several years. She should keep in mind that sex offenders often live in these encampments. They’re often dangerous too, and they require police.

Moreover, the homeless people living in these unhealthy environments are at risk of death due to their circumstances. These are crises in progress that also demand attention. Perhaps if Mosqueda worked harder on policies to tackle homelessness that don’t simply involve subsidized housing, we would not need a team to clear encampments.

It doesn’t get lower than this

Mosqueda’s tweets are pretty despicable, bringing her sorry, mediocre career to a new low.

She’s using victims to criticize SPD’s staffing choices that she forced them into making when she defunded the department. Unable to stop Harrell from his willingness to finally clear encampments, Mosqueda hopes to use the pain of survivors to put enough pressure on the SPD to ignore the mayor’s homelessness plan.

Mosqueda’s strategy is obviously ghoulish. But given she’s previously defended a man who threatened to violently murder police officers, we shouldn’t be surprised.

Man shouts to @SeattlePD "Take your guns, put them onto your chins and pull the trigger. I need you to kill yourselves," while Seattle CM @CMTMosqueda says "the anger is justified" & King County CM @GirmayZahilay says "I've seen nothing but peaceful people out here." (LANGUAGE) pic.twitter.com/96yJl8KcgQ

— Jason Rantz on KTTH Radio (@jasonrantz) June 7, 2020

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