In a decision worthy of a latter day Solomon, the Seattle City Council once again shows us the way. First they demonstrated how to effectively operate a small community without police (CHAZ/CHOP) and now they show us how to extend that success to the community at large:
The majority of Seattle City Council is now backing proposals to defund Seattle’s police department by 50%, despite concerns from the mayor’s office and Seattle’s police chief.
What could go wrong?
A coalition called Decriminalize Seattle presented a plan to the budget committee to redirect millions from the city budget to community organizations.
According to the coalition, its plan to reallocate more than $200 million from the Seattle Police Department’s budget would replace current 911 operations with a civilian-controlled system; scaled up community-led solutions; an investment in housing; and a fund for a “community-created roadmap to life without policing.”
Great. Let’s keep the Questionable Wisdom of Crowds** in play as long as possible.
** How bad news becomes increasingly negative, inaccurate and hysterical when passed from person to person: "Society is an amplifier for risk. This research explains why our world looks increasingly threatening despite consistent reductions in real-world threats.
"It also shows that the more people share information, the further that information gets from the facts and the more resilient it becomes to correction." (like – cough, cough – COVID)
And good luck with that “community-created roadmap to life without policing.”
I hope it comes with detailed operating instructions:
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