Seattle mayor signs 2022 budget despite 'serious reservations' about public safety funding
During a budget signing press conference Thursday, outgoing Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan touted some of the accomplishments of her one term and criticized the City Council-approved budget for the Police Department.
The 2022 budget totals $7.1 billion, including $355 million for police, or about $9.5 million less than what Durkan wanted, with most of that for additional community service officers and hiring incentives.
Durkan said she has "serious reservations" about the police budget because it falls short of what's needed to staff up to the desired number of 1,400 officers. Interim Chief Adrian Diaz said a variety of studies showed Seattle could use 1,600 to 1,700 officers.
Currently the city has 1,200 officers but only about 1,000 are deployable, Diaz said. "We have not seen numbers like that since I've been on (the force) for 25 years." From 2000 to 2020, the city's population grew by 173,641, according to census data.
https://www.bizjournals.com/seattle/news/2021/12/02/durkan-signs-2022-budget-despite.html