Seattle police response times increase amid recruiting crisis

Seattle Police Chief Adrian Diaz told a City Council committee on Tuesday that priority response call times are up. Financial incentives have done little to help address low staffing levels in the beleaguered department, which has been understaffed by hundreds of officers since the council began defunding the police in 2020.

According to the chief, just as many officers are joining the department as those that are leaving, causing levels to stagnate in the first quarter of 2023.

Diaz reported that the Seattle Police Department is at least 300 officers short of full coverage at pre-2020 levels which has caused longer call times across the city.

I just called Seattle 911 to report gunshots.

For 3 minutes I heard a recording saying I had reached 911, to "not hang up" & that "calls would be answered in the order they were recieved"

I said during council's push to defund SPD that you would call 911 and no one would answer

— Ari Hoffman (@thehoffather) June 1, 2022