Defunding Seattle police: City Council OKs sharp cuts but avoid 50% budget reduction

SEATTLE — After several hours of debate today and in previous days, the Seattle City Council on Monday voted 7-1 to approve a controversial spending plan that will reduce funding to the Seattle Police Department by 14 percent for the remainder of 2020.

The council's budget plan, however, is far below the 50 percent reduction that some members had lobbied for and community groups had demanded.

RELATED: Protesters wanting Seattle police defunded by 50 percent disappointed in proposed cuts

Several amendments introduced earlier in the day at the council's Budget Committee meeting were added to the spending plan.

The biggest change of note was a reversal of a previous committee decision to cut Chief Carmen Best’s annual salary for 2020 to $185,000. The council reinstated the amount to $294,000, which represented just a small decline according to Councilwoman Lisa Herbold.

But the 12 other non-union, sworn officers that are part of Best’s command staff saw their pay for the remainder of the year cut drastically, down to the lowest pay grade for the rank they represent.

Monday afternoon’s full council vote became more of a rubber stamp process of the Budget Committee’s earlier decision to adopt the mayor’s $20 million in proposed cuts before adding roughly $3 million more to the total reductions. The Budget Committee is made up of the full council.

Only Council Member Kshama Sawant voted against the cuts, saying they don’t represent the 50 pledge in cuts she had made. Councilwoman Debra Juarez, one of two council members who did not pledge to cut the department's budget by 50 percent, was absent from Monday's meeting.

The cuts to SPD where part of a massive re-balancing plan of the city’s 2020 budget.

After the council vote, Mayor Jenny Durkan issued a statement through a spokesperson, criticizing the move.

"It is unfortunate Council has refused to engage in a collaborative process to work with the Mayor, Chief Best, and community members to develop a budget and policies that respond to community needs while accounting for – not just acknowledging – the significant labor and legal implications involved in transforming the Seattle Police Department," the statement said.

Durkan had proposed cuts worth $20 million to the police budget, and the council went along with that plan while adding in an additional $2.9 million in spending reductions. That means the city's remaining budget for 2020 is $170 million.

The budget reduction could affect as many as 100 officers through layoffs and attrition — an action supported by demonstrators who have marched in the city following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis but strongly opposed by the mayor and police chief.

Seattle currently has about 1,400 police officers and the reductions that the council considered for a final vote fell far short of the 50 percent cut to the department that many Black Lives Matter protesters are seeking.

The council's plan also calls for removing officers from the city Navigation Team, which removes homeless camps, a reduction of the Harbor Patrol, SWAT, Public Affairs and Horse Unit.

The council can only restrict funding for certain positions through the proviso process. But Best still has wide latitude on who she hires to run the department.

Some council members have said the initial cuts are a first step to more sweeping reductions and a rethinking of law enforcement in Seattle.