Defund Cops, Courts, and Prosecutors. Seattle’s historic overinvestment in policing and punishment as a response to social problems began a long-overdue reversal in 2020. This year, we demand that the divestment from SPD continue, and that Seattle commit to shrink other parts of the policing pipeline by defunding the municipal court and the criminal division of the City Attorney’s office. Key recommendations include:
Defunding SPD by 50% by eliminating position authority, reducing funding for positions, and ending funding for new hires and ending police spending on new tech, new buildings, new weapons, or police public relations.
Defunding the misdemeanor punishment arm of the municipal court and the criminal division of the City Attorney’s office by 50% by eliminating courtrooms and shrinking the number of cases prosecuted.
Investing $5.5 million in addressing gender-based violence and $40 million in capacity building grants for community-based organizations to build non-police responses to crisis and harm.