So a little bit about #DefundThePolice for Seattle because we have a technically difficult situation here.

If cuts are made before a new contract is negotiated the cuts will be by seniority, the worst of all possible worlds when we have really high salaries and are trying to change the culture of a force.

I mean just removing money is a good thing, it can do more good being used to mail voters lottery tickets than it is doing paying for people authorized to use deadly force against citizens, but I for one want to reduce harm as much as possible in addition to saving money

For that, you need a good top down cut that also removes anyone with a long documented history of violence. The problem is the current contract forbids that.

So the question is how do you get a contract that will let you cut the way you need to, and for that you need to create the kind of crisis in the SPG that could result in a better cut.

You get a veto proof majority of council members to commit to the cuts. That way it is clear there isn't an out.

The you go to the officers and explain you want to save as many jobs as possible given the directive to reduce payroll by 50% but that the tenure rules are a problem

There are more people who would lose their jobs and have a vote if the tenure rule stays intact, so suddenly the self interest lines up with community interest in the one issue and you are likely to end up with a K that lets you cut differently

But it takes a commitment from enough members of the council and notice that the contract is cancelled.

And that commitment needs to be a cut to the sworn officer personnel budget, not just the budget in general because you could make half the budget go away with tricks like changing what department runs the switchboard or moving parking enforcement to transportation.

Now I support both of those things, but they are not a meaningful reduction in the number of people who are authorized to use lethal force against other people in the name of the city, so they are not a real answer to the demand