More than 200 Seattle police officers quit their jobs in the last year amid months of frequent anti-law enforcement, racial injustice protests and riots in the city.
Many of the officers cited an anti-police climate in the city – including in the City Council — and disagreements with police management in their reasons for moving on, leaving the department with what Police Chief Adrian Diaz called a “staffing crisis” on Tuesday.
He said 180 police officers quit last year and another 66 officers so far this year.
Some of the officers retired early while others took policing jobs in other cities or moved on to other careers, the officers said in exit interviews, according to KING-TV in Seattle.
Diaz said the number of officers left with the department is at “record” lows. “I have about 1,080 deployable officers,” he told KING. “This is the lowest I’ve seen our department.”- READ MORE
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