Mill Creek councilmember calls for unvaccinated police separated under mandate to apply

With an eye toward those recently separated for non-compliance with Washington state’s vaccine mandate, Mill Creek is looking to fill a police labor shortage that has left it in need of a half dozen uniformed officers.

Mill Creek Councilmember Vincent Cavaleri has announced that he is looking to fill those vacancies in the Mill Creek Police Department, and is inviting his “brothers and sisters” terminated under the mandate to “continue to serve with honor and distinction” for the department, per a Facebook post Oct. 18.

Cavaleri is an outspoken critic of Gov. Inslee’s vaccination mandates, which, in his opinion, are indicative of a “slippery slope to an almost segregationist society,” he told KTTH’s Jason Rantz Show.

“This is really a self-inflicted wound that is transcending across pretty much from the state to the county to the cities,” he continued.

“Even to a little city like ours, losing 20 to 30% of the police department is not acceptable if we don’t agree on the concept that public safety has to come first before anything,” he said. “And we’re never going to succeed at anything we do here.”

Mill Creek PD has characterized its staffing shortage as “dire” and “close … to collapse” in a letter to the Mill Creek City Council from the police guild.

In response, the city council approved various agreements to up hiring bonuses by as much as $20,000, including attempts to perform lateral hires, which is how Cavaleri has characterized the hiring of officers recently separated under the mandate.

The council also recently looked at legislation which would bar a vaccine mandate similar to that which resulted in the termination of 127 state patrol officers and six from SPD (a figure that does not account for officers waiting decision on exemption requests).

“We’re trying to make every step we possibly can to fill the ranks,” Cavaleri added.

“We pay very well,” he added. “What we’re saying is that the City of Mill Creek and this council member will not be asking your private medical information. We will not be peering into your medical history. We just want you to do the job with distinction.”

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