Seattle desperately short of cops and mandates could make it worse

 Jazz Shaw:

...  Despite being mired in crime and ongoing protests, the staffing situation at the Seattle Police Department has reached such a dire level that they have declared a “stage three” emergency condition. At this point, detectives, plainclothes officers and non-patrol units will now be responding to 911 calls. And residents are being warned there may be increased delays in response times. The local police union has announced that they can’t afford to lose “one more officer” at this point or they simply won’t be able to assure the safety of the populace....

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At this point, every member of the SPD, regardless of their normal assignment, is coming to work in uniform and ready to hit the streets if required. And according to the Police Guild, it’s still not enough. They’ve already lost more than 300 officers in the past year.

The timing couldn’t be worse because the deadline is approaching on Monday for all police officers to obey the executive mandate that they receive the COVID vaccine or be placed on extended leave without pay. To date, 98 officers are in the process of seeking exemptions. Another 186 haven’t turned in any paperwork regarding their vaccination status. Since exemptions have rarely been granted, this potentially puts the city at risk of losing more than 250 additional officers this week, and they simply can’t absorb that sort of loss.

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I blame liberalism.  The liberal leaders of the city have allowed rioters to attack buildings and the police and have in some cases defunded the police.  It is one of the dumbest movements in history and it is caused by liberals taking the side of criminals in some cases.