Seattle Police Officer Guild President Mike Solan told The Ari Hoffman Show on Talk Radio 570 KVI, “We had 42 separations this year and we've only hired 20.”
The city is projecting a loss of over 90 officers by the end of 2024 and is only expecting to hire or rehire around 34. Though the departures began in 2019, the massive exodus came after the Seattle City Council began defunding the police following the riots that rocked the city in 2020.
Solan said the department has lost over 725 officers over the last five years and has just over 800 deployable officers. He added that the department should have over 2,000 officers for a city the size of Seattle, noting that Boston, which has a similar population to the Emerald City, has a much larger police force and a lot fewer issues on the streets. This number is the lowest number of officers the city has seen since the 1950s.
