SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES

Seattle Police Guild Pres: ‘We can’t politicize public safety because we will all suffer’

Nov 27, 2020, 4:23 PM

seattle police, seattle officers, wrongful death...

(KIRO Radio, Matt Pitman)

(KIRO Radio, Matt Pitman)

The Seattle City Council voted to further defund Seattle police on Monday amid debating the 2021 budget. It comes at a time in which numerous incidents of violence occurred over the past few weeks, putting into question the push to reduce the level of Seattle police during a time of need.

Mike Solan is the president of the Seattle Police Officers Guild and joined the Dori Monson Show to discuss.

“It’s bizarre and it’s nonsensical. But it’s predictable. Bizarre, because it is completely unprecedented, nonsensical because it doesn’t make sense and we’re being driven and swallowed by far left progressive socialist activists that continue to push false narratives about public safety, in particular police officers,” he said.

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“But also, the third point is, it’s not surprising. I mean, this is something that we can see it play out. If you remove funds for police and you remove police jobs, it just makes sense. And it’s sad that people are going to be plagued with more crimes.”

Solan says that public safety is being politicized by those who have little understanding about the nature of crime and how to fight it.

“When you have people with no statistical data, with anything to point as far as being what they deem is a solution for public safety. When they insert social workers into a police problem, you’re going to see them being visited by crime, and sadly a couple days ago — and what you just referenced — is a social worker losing their life to this violence via mental health and homeless issues. I feel sad for that individual, in particular the victims that were obviously victimized by this psychopath,” he said.

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“But you know, we have to spotlight this. This is a major problem. We can’t politicize public safety because we will all suffer and evidence of that is what’s occurring when they defend us.”

Listen to the Dori Monson Show weekday afternoons from noon – 3 p.m. on KIRO Radio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

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Seattle Police Guild Pres: ‘We can’t politicize public safety because we will all suffer’