The Seattle Police Department (SPD) has lost 38 officers, including new recruits, as of June 3, 2024. Conversely, only 15 officers have been hired or rehired this year, putting Seattle Police Department staffing at its lowest since 1958.
SPD’s departures come as seven more officers left in May. At the current pace, with nearly a third of officers eligible to retire, the city expects 94 officers to retire by the end of the year. The city plans to hire or rehire only 34 this year.
The total number of officers available for deployment may fluctuate from day to day due to injuries, scheduled sabbaticals, maternity/parental leave, etc. However, as of June 3, the total number of officers available for deployment was only 848 (not including recruits and students).
The crisis is clear when comparing current statistics to Jan. 1, 1958. According to staffing documents obtained by KTTH’s “The Jason Lantz Show,” the Seattle Police Department was staffed with 918 officers. Since then, population and crime have increased dramatically.
How is Seattle addressing its police understaffing crisis?
The mayor’s office said it is stepping up recruiting efforts for SPD, but so far the strategy hasn’t worked.
In a moral reversal, the SPD is actively recruiting so-called DREAMers (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Status (DACA) recipients). A bipartisan bill allowing DACA recipients to be hired as civil servants went into effect on June 6th.
However, DACA is still being challenged in court, and whether DACA recipients can own firearms will depend on guidelines from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives under the Biden administration, which will be issued in January 2024. DACA could be declared unconstitutional, and the guidelines could change with the new administration.
Moreover, how many DACA recipients would be interested in becoming police officers? As things stand, interest among the general public is low. This strategy will likely result in few (if any) applicants.
Jason Lantz Exclusive: Former Seattle Police Chief Adrian Diaz comes out as gay
Crime remains out of control
Seattle is in dire need of police as the city tries to recover from a record 74 homicides last year.
Seattle has seen 21 homicides this year (plus two that happened in the city but are still under investigation by Washington State Police), which is down from 2023 (30 homicides as of the end of June), but caution is advised as the city is dealing with a spike in juvenile crime and the summer months typically see an uptick in violent crime.
But violent crime isn’t the only problem plaguing the city. As the city struggles to meet its pre-2020 criminal justice reform numbers, business and car owners are plagued by frequent break-ins, thefts and vandalism. The crisis has worsened to the point where small businesses, finding there aren’t enough police to protect their neighborhoods, are hiring private security guards at great expense.
Many property crimes go unreported — a fact former Seattle Police Chief Adrian Diaz acknowledges — but the data is being arbitrarily skewed to downplay the crisis for political purposes. Despite activists and some politicians’ claims, Seattle is thriving, a shocking number of businesses remain closed, and commercial real estate downtown is selling cheap.
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