Seattle City Council discusses proposed police budget increase

A budget that impacts taxpayers and public safety was front and center today at Seattle City Hall. Mayor Wilson's proposed budget for Seattle Police was laid out for council. Here are the numbers that matter to you. Wilson's two-year budget is proposed at $9.1 billion, an increase from around $8.9 billion from the previous administration. SPD's projected budget of that is around $550 million, with a $68 million increase, And the vast majority of that 68 million increase will cover wage increases negotiated last year with the police union. One of the biggest sticking points right now between the mayor and some council members is the number of new hires. Wilson is proposing a budget that hopes to reach 1,250 full-time officers. Council member Rob Kettle says he doesn't like that cap. And it stunts the city's goal of reaching well over 1,400 SPD officers down the road. Currently, Seattle has 935 deployable officers. Under Wilson's budget proposal, SPD expects to net 43 new officers for 2027, but nets zero new officers for 2028. That continues to raise concerns about slow 911 response times, which is on average just under 10 minutes for life-threatening calls. Also, staffing levels per capita is significantly lower than comparable cities that roughly has double Seattle's level of staffing. Councilmember Kettle also questioned the 1,250 full-time officer threshold, calling it a PR number, saying under the current situation, he says the city can't even reach that. But now with this new bill, we're not taking off anymore. We're landing, and as the briefing shows, the 1,250 number is not the 1,250 number. We're going to land short, and that crash landing is going to impact our public safety posture. But other councilmembers come into Mayor Wilson's defense when it comes to the budget, like Eddie Lynn there pointing out that other city departments could be facing major budget cuts, but that SPD doesn't have that issue. In fact, Mayor Wilson's plan doesn't take away any money, especially during a challenging fiscal environment. I want us to have a level playing field and make sure that we are characterizing what's actually happening in the proposed budget. Seattle City Council could make a final vote on SPD's budget on November 20th.