CITY OF SEATTLE
RESOLUTION __________________
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A RESOLUTION relating to the Seattle Police Department; stating the Council’s intent to lift a proviso on anticipated 2022 salary and benefits savings to fund staffing incentives for uniformed police officers.
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WHEREAS, the Charter of the City of Seattle is the Law of the City for the purpose of protecting and enhancing the health, safety, environment, and general welfare of the people; and
WHEREAS, Article VI Section 1 of the Charter of the City of Seattle states, “There shall be maintained adequate police protection in each district in the City”; and
WHEREAS, according to the Seattle Police Department 2021 Year-End Crime Report, incidents of violent crime increased by 20 percent, including a 24 percent increase in aggravated assaults, compared to 2020 totals; and
WHEREAS, according to the Seattle Police Department 2021 Year-End Crime Report, incidents of property crime increased by nine percent, including a 31 percent in incidents of arson, compared to 2020 totals; and
WHEREAS, according to the Seattle Police Department’s May 12, 2022 Shots Fired Report, Year-To-Date (YTD) gun fatalities increased 100 percent compared to YTD 2021 with the total number of 17 homicides YTD representing a 54 percent increase compared to 11 homicides YTD in 2021; and
WHEREAS, there has been a reduction of 332 in-service officers since January 2020, representing a 26 percent reduction of in-service officer staff; and
WHEREAS, the response time to a given service call will be longer when fewer officers are available to respond to these calls in the aggregate; and
WHEREAS, the current median response time to Priority 1 9-1-1 calls is 7.34 minutes, the current median response time to Priority 2 9-1-1 calls is 22.9 minutes, and currently officers are not dispatched to Priority 3 and Priority 4 9-1-1 calls; and
WHEREAS, since the summer of 2021, non-patrol officers, including investigators, have been redeployed to 9-1-1 response, diminishing the Seattle Police Department’s ability to prevent and investigate crime; and
WHEREAS, despite this redeployment, the Seattle Police Department needs to augment per-watch staffing 90 percent of the time to meet its established minimum staffing standards; and
WHEREAS, in 2021 the Seattle Police Department hired 81 officers and 171 officers separated from service due to retirement or resignation, resulting in a net loss of 90 officers; and
WHEREAS, at the end of 2021 the Seattle Police Department employed 958 in-service officers, down from 1,290 in January 2020, with the greatest quarterly decline in force having occurred in the last quarter of 2020, reflecting a reduction of 114 officers between September and December; and
WHEREAS, 2022 Council Budget Action SPD-003-B-001 imposed a proviso restricting the Seattle Police Department’s use of anticipated 2022 salary and benefits savings unless authorized by a future ordinance; and
WHEREAS, the Seattle Police Department has seen an increase in competition for qualified applicants for the position of police officer due, in part, to regional and national hiring incentives at law enforcement agencies; and
WHEREAS, current labor shortages constrain the ability of municipalities across the Puget Sound region to hire needed officers; and
WHEREAS, to provide adequate police protection across Seattle, the Council believes SPD must accelerate the replacement of officers lost to separations; NOW, THEREFORE,
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SEATTLE THAT:
Section 1. The Council supports the Seattle Police Department’s development of a staffing incentives program to enhance its provision of an adequate number of fully trained, deployable officers to prevent, respond to, and investigate crime in Seattle.
Section 2. The Council will consider modifying by ordinance the proviso imposed by Council Budget Action SPD-003-B-001 in order to fund a staffing incentives and recruitment support program at the Seattle Police Department, at a level not to exceed the cost to implement and administer a staffing incentives and recruitment support program, and in consideration of anticipated 2023 budget constraints.
Section 3. The Council intends to pass an ordinance that would allow the implementation of a staffing incentives program at the Seattle Police Department.
Adopted by the City Council the ________ day of _________________________, 2022, and signed by me in open session in authentication of its adoption this ________ day of _________________________, 2022.
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President ____________ of the City Council
Filed by me this ________ day of _________________________, 2022.
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Monica Martinez Simmons, City Clerk
(Seal)
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