Mayor surprised by Seattle Police Chief's repeat offenders remark
komonews.com/news/local/seattle-police-chief-...Posted Oct 27, 2019, 3:14 AM UTC
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Haha surprised. This simply translates to, "You're not supposed to say that out loud, Chief."
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Love it
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Saw this gem of a quote from Durkan, describing the two legal standards in Seattle "we have two separate systems and also people who have significant behavioral health issues often can’t stand trial so we have to let them go and they often re-commit offenses, but we can’t get them the help they need and we need to change that.”
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There are criminally insane people wandering the streets of Seattle.
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Tax paying citizens vs the POS class.
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significant behavioral health issues often can’t stand trial
Well...is this true in washington? Because if so Durkan isn't doing anything wrong, it's the laws themselves that need changed. If you can't stand trial you should be committed to a well funded facility. But Durkan doesn't have any control over that.
Again this is only the case if what he's saying is actually true, if holding them really isn't a legal option then he kind of has to release them.
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If you can't stand trial you should be committed to a well funded facility. But Durkan doesn't have any control over that.
If it's true that the mayor doesn't have any control over that why is the city putting so much effort into trying to fund permanent supportive housing? They're just going to end up with a bunch of people who can't stand trial and can't be committed. If they're housed here they're going to stick around for a while.
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If they're housed here they're going to stick around for a while
They will if they're not housed as well? We could have Cartman drive around singing California Love but I doubt that's going to get rid of them either.
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We can keep picking them up and hauling them to jail pending trial. It’s not the same as sentencing them but it’s an effective deterrent based on the thousands of warrant jumpers hiding out everywhere.
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If this is true and their hands are tied, the city leaders should clearly indicate where the problem is and advocate for change.
Maybe that’s arguing for more money for Western State Hospital, maybe it’s getting new judges on the 9th circuit of appeals.
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What we're seeing happen with the repeat offenders IS the solution. We're affording them the closest thing to a real life the criminally insane will ever experience. These are the same people we used to lock in mental institutions away from society and Seattle has found a way to successfully integrate them. All we have to do is get used to crazy behavior and unprovoked assaults every now and then. Once that is normalized we won't even notice the occasional guy stabbing an old man on the sidewalk!
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So how is this Seattle’s fault if all the nearby communities dump them on us, and we do not have the capacity in the courts and prosecutors to handle them all, and ALSO in WA it’s fantastically hard to institutionalize people?
What, EXACTLY, is Seattle supposed to do?
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Obliviousness with the mayor and the City Council is the sad norm. They're often surprised that things don't work the way they think.
I'm very liberal, but I'm beginning to think we need more or at least some conservatives in our city government.
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Conservative isn't always a bad word. You just need the right type of conservatives though.
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That's true on both sides. We truthfully need both sides; what we're seeing here is a prime example of the problems with mono culture. If you have good back and forth debate it tends to strengthen the arguments and plans of both sides and cut away the stuff that's not going to work as well.
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balance is always a good thing in my book.
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Agreed!
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We don’t need conservatives, we need realists not idealists. Democrat / republican / Green Party doesn’t matter.
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OK, I'll go with that.
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Obliviousness is a part of Seattle culture. Chief Best is at a conference of police chiefs and is probably tweeting in reaction to getting constantly laughed at.
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Seattle City government has never been stellar although a few past mayors have been pretty good, but this group takes the prize for being the most inept. I don't hold out a lot of hope that our new city council will be an better.
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“Shortly after Chief Best sent her tweet, the Seattle Police Officers Guild retweeted it, thanking her and calling out City Attorney Pete Holmes.”
“KOMO News reached out to his office Friday for a response but did not hear back.”
That’s because Pete is jerking off in his car as the repeat offenders are escorted out of jail.
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God that is some horrible imagery, but if anyone happened to get that footage (or any other good compromising material) that would be priceless.
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So Durkan knows about the problem but she's surprised the police chief, whom she hired, commented on it?
"Carmen, we agreed not to talk about the elephant! Were you drunk tweeting or was this deliberate?"
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I bet there were some awkward phone calls after that tweet went out.
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Durkan didn’t want to hire Best. She initially wasn’t a finalist for the job, only after major backlash from the community and media Best was considered and eventually hired!
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Seattle needs a new Major, City Council, and City Attorney.
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Remember that the only other choice in the election for mayor was Cary Moon, who was far less favorably disposed towards enforcing laws than Durkan, who is a former prosecutor. Moon said that she would make camping in parks legal. The third place finisher in the primaries was Nikita Oliver, who IIRC wants to entirely get rid of the police force and end all incarceration.
Seattle politics is vastly unlikely to produce a candidate with a more effective approach than Durkan, as dismal as that is.
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Yeah I remember Nikkita Oliver, she came here from Chicago a few years ago and wants to dismantle law engorcement.
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What, EXACTLY, is Seattle supposed to do differently if we cannot institutionalize people?
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Arrest people that commit crimes. Hold them for at least 72 hours. Prosecute them. When they are in prison, get them medical help, detox help, food, clothing. Talk to them, try to get them to accept help when they get out.
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None of those things are decisions by the City of Seattle. It’s county and state.
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well if she is surprised by it, she apparently is not qualified to be mayor as it shows she is oblivious
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I think we just learned that in Seattle it's perfectly OK for two white women in positions of power to call out a mouthy black woman when she's speaking an uncomfortable truth. In some circumstances this would be an issue Social Justice Warriors would have a field day with, but since Carmen is talking about criminal repeat offenders they will remain silent.
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Probably only demo that wont get fired for enforcing laws.
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And also is less likely to experience retaliation from the police unions for getting rid of bad apples busy spoiling the barrel. And probably not part of the good ol' boys club. So this is one kind of affirmative action I can get behind.
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The statistical likelihood of that happening by random chance is 1 in 2500
Good thing it’s not random chance then. It’s like she’s qualified for the position or something.
On a serious note, I’m disappointed to see a comment like this.
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Strongly suggests
You seem intelligent enough to know that correlation and causation are not the same things.
That said if you are disappointed that someone is pointing out systemic racism then maybe you should rethink your values as a human being.
LOL. We selected our police chief from a national population. Given those statistics it is entirely reasonable to have a non-white police chief who is ABSOLUTELY as qualified as her white male peers. You seem to think that advancing a qualified minority is detrimental for some reason. You’re acting as if that hurts other minority groups or white people somehow to have a minority in a high position. I think you should really question your values as a human being. A person does not need to look a certain way to be qualified for their job.
I’m fine if we agree to disagree, but ultimately you’re the one commenting on someone’s ability based on the color of their skin. Slightly more than half the population is female so she’s representative there. You’re stuck on the fact she’s black, it seems.
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And?
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They are working within the confines of the laws the city council sets as well as attempting to maintain the social structure of the city.
When every decision is scrutinized by the quadfecta of the council, the media, the population and the police force you are in charge of what is Chief Best to do? She seams to be dancing quite well politically. Maintaining that balance of trying to keep everyone as happy as she can.
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Quick reminder that Jerkin didn’t want Carmen Best to be the police chief. Good for Best, she’s the type of leader this city needs but probably doesn’t deserve!
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Lol
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I wish Chief Best would speak her mind on this topic more often. We need to start having real conversations about these issues instead of the fantasy land horseshit from the council.
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Yes, city needs people that speak truthfully.
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It’s too bad speaking the truth is considered hate speech.
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The local news show she did a while back where she just kept repeating the phrase, “tried, and convicted” sounded like she was trying to convince herself as well as everyone else.
You'd think a former federal prosecutor would be able to figure this stuff out