Seattle residents slam ‘Defund the police’ as ‘radical experiment’ during city budget meeting

Hundreds of Seattle residents spoke up about proposals to “Defund the police” during a city council budget meeting on Wednesday, according to reports.

The council is considering a plan that could slash the budget of the city’s police department by 50 percent – resulting in layoffs for hundreds of officers – all as Seattle deals with the coronavirus outbreak and frequent riots and other unrest since the May 25 death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis.

While the “Defund the police” effort was initially popular in the city, opponents of the plan have been growing more vocal, Q13 FOX of Seattle reported.

“Defunding the police is a radical experiment that will hurt the vulnerable,” one member of the public, calling in to the phone-in meeting, told the council, according to Q13 FOX.

In addition, the Seattle Police Officers Guild, the union representing police, said it has collected more than 20,000 signatures on a “Stop Defunding” petition, the station reported.

-READ MORE