DivestSPD Profile picture
Seattle's grassroots police watchdog. Got a good tip about a bad cop? DM us. Sustain our work with a monthly donation at https://t.co/6vE1PffA5b
Jaela (she/they) Profile picture 2 subscribed
Apr 5 4 tweets 3 min read
SPOG doesn't want you to see this. The massive payday for SPOG's membership will break the city financially.

At 4.5 years, beat cops will be making $136,000

plus overtime
plus longevity pay
plus premiums for wearing body cams
plus 95% of healthcare premiums paid by the city
Proposed Pay Scale  	Monthly	Yearly Start	$8,662	$103,944 6 months	$9,290	$111,480 18 months	$9,712	$116,544 30 months	$10,084	$121,008 42 months	$10,591	$127,092 54 months	$11,342	$136,104 This bump in the final year of the contract (2023) is described as 5% cost of living + 10% "market rate."

No other departments are paying nearly as much, Next closest is Redmond (Starting at $101,844 vs $103,944 for SPD then Kent (Starting at $96,268)

clerk.seattle.gov/~CFS/CF_322964…
Image
Jun 17, 2023 7 tweets 2 min read
Actually, the criticism is:
1) She's a Republican who lives in DuPont who organized a rally to "take back" a city that she doesn't live in. (not even the same county/area code) 2) This event is the latest in a series of deeply cynical GOP efforts aimed at breaking off Asians from the Democratic Party. That's clearly laid out in the thread.
Jun 17, 2023 7 tweets 3 min read
This event, originally titled "March to Take Back Our City," is being organized by failed GOP candidate Susanna Keilman, a resident of DuPont, WA. Facebook post:  Susanna Kei... This seems like an opportunistic move that's part of a larger Republican strategy to woo Asian voters through a combination of grievance politics (see also that kid who didn't get accepted to Berkeley) and fear-mongering about crime and homelessness.
Jun 17, 2023 5 tweets 2 min read
This event was originally promoted on the r/SeattleWA subreddit under the more cryptofascist title "Rally to Take Back Our City."

No one knows who is organizing this. It's extremely sus. MARCH TO TAKE BACK THE CITY... The version Brandi just posted changed the title to "Unite for Safety" and deleted the inflammatory references to women being "robbed, assaulted, and raped"
Jun 16, 2023 5 tweets 1 min read
Brandi and folks like her don't want to solve problems or help people. She wants to shred the social safety net so her wealthy libertarian benefactors will pay less taxes. <- Tweet fOlt Brandi KruseQ... All the rich libertarians in the state could afford to give We Heart Seattle millions of dollars to stand up whatever private social services they want. They don't. Instead, they dump their vast wealth into advocacy and propaganda.

Why? Because helping people was never the point
Jun 14, 2023 6 tweets 2 min read
Some context that both Brandi and SPD are leaving out:

This is a court ruling in a suit over SPD’s arrest of protesters chalking a sidewalk.

SPD Twitter had previously said chalking was fine, and the department allowed sidewalk chalking at pro-Police events. In other words, the court wouldn’t even be talking about this if SPD hadn’t selectively enforced the code to punish its critics.
Mar 1, 2023 10 tweets 2 min read
On Monday, SPD's Before the Badge program hosted a Zoom call for recruits to meet residents of the South Precinct.

Only three people from the South End showed up.

divestspd.substack.com/p/almost-no-on… 70% of the meeting's attendees were paid to be there, including:

-Four research assistants (who are themselves likely to be future cops or SPD civilian employees)
-Two officers
-Seven recruits
-SPD Af-American Advisory Council and city contractor Victoria Beach
Feb 28, 2023 4 tweets 1 min read
Memphis PD implemented a DEI initiative that drastically increased the number of Black officers until it roughly matched the demographics of the majority Black city and their officers still beat a man to death over nothing. In the 1960s, the Kerner Commission identified differences in race makeup of police vs. communities as one of dozens of contributing factors to the riots. It was one of the few recommendations reformers attempted to implement. Half a century later, cops are as deadly as ever.
Feb 10, 2023 7 tweets 2 min read
So much about this dude's story is reminiscent of a certain self-proclaimed "warlord" in Seattle. theintercept.com/2023/02/07/fbi… Windecker drew attention to himself with his gaudy silver hearse and protest antics.

Simone drew attention to himself with his Tesla and protest antics. “Yep, I got it,” Windecker said. “Thanks, Mom. Thanks,
Feb 9, 2023 4 tweets 1 min read
"Many business owners"

"Many" is a weasel word. How many is "many?"

Businesses generally report losses from theft, vandalism, robbery, etc. to document them for insurance/tax purposes. Yes, a lot of crime (especially petty property crime) goes unreported. We know that from comparing crime victimization surveys with reported crime.

However, underreporting rates are highly consistent from year to year (i.e. only vary by a 1-2 % pts). A trend is a trend.
Feb 7, 2023 6 tweets 2 min read
In other cities, such as Bellingham, "Alternative Response Team" means "non-police mental health response"

In Seattle, it means "cops who stand around at sweeps to coerce the homeless into leaving without incident with an implied threat of force" A312N - ALTERNATIVE RESPONS... ART is the successor to the Nav team, which was supposed to be co-response (cops + social services), but it almost never included caseworkers in practice.
Sep 26, 2022 14 tweets 4 min read
In 2017-2018, multiple online vendors claimed SPD Ofc. Eric Walter defrauded them out of merchandise worth thousands of dollars, including watches, gold coins, and motorcycle parts.

(THREAD) Officer Eric Walter in a Bike helmet on a news broadcast covNARRATIVE H. Froisland#TP0483 On 8/1/18 at 0736 hours, I res In 2017, an online coin seller contacted police in Mountlake Terrace (where Walter lives) claiming that he received more than $2,000 in gold coins by mail and falsely reported his credit card stolen. (1/12)
Sep 26, 2022 5 tweets 2 min read
“It’ll be chaos” Skip to main content Axios ... It’s gonna get harder and harder for folks like Mike Solan to bullshit the public as evidence mounts that alternative response works.

CAHOOTS in Eugene, OR has been providing alternative mental health response for decades now.
Aug 20, 2022 8 tweets 2 min read
Whelp. SPOG is filing for an injunction to block one of our records requests. “DivestSPD is a Twitter account and organization that, amongst other activities, disparages and publicizes negative information about the Seattle Police Department”

Accurate
Aug 18, 2022 5 tweets 2 min read
Cops in Seattle almost never get fired—even for lying, bias or breaking the law.

A cop literally has to hot mic the N-word to get fired for racism. For example, this creep cop was credibly accused of trying to groom a high school girl but kept his job.

Later, he assaulted a Black man in a mall off-duty and got a training referral.
Apr 20, 2022 6 tweets 2 min read
SPD once again bragging about stopping a “crime spree” that’s just a series of random irrational behaviors driven by obvious untreated mental illness. Fun Fact: With the $19 million parked in the SPD budget to fund unfilled positions that SPD cannot and will not fill this year, Health Services could triple its mental health caseworkers.

Apr 20, 2022 16 tweets 6 min read
SPD promoted 2 officers responsible for the most notorious moments of the 2020 protests:

* Michael Tietjen, who drove onto a sidewalk full of protesters, is now a lieutenant in N. Precinct

* Sean Moore, who pepper-sprayed a small child, is now lieutenant of CRG
(THREAD) ImageImage When Moore pepper-sprayed an 8-year-old boy at the May 30 demo, the incident made international headlines.

The OPA investigation found Moore’s actions were “lawful” because they weren’t intentional. (1/14)

Apr 18, 2022 14 tweets 9 min read
New cases from @SeattleOPA
-No discipline for cop accused of raiding charity, receiving kickbacks
-Officer who pepper-sprayed NLG legal observer never identified
-Problem cop retaliates against a man who asked him to wear a mask, requested badge number

(THREAD) White text on a navy blue b... @SeattleOPA The board of Code 4 Northwest accused SPD officer Steven Redmond of:
* Misusing the nonprofit’s funds
* Forging the secretary’s signature on checks
* Receiving kickbacks from a vendor for mental health referrals.
tinyurl.com/4xs2u6ad

(1/12)
Apr 1, 2022 12 tweets 5 min read
No April Fools joke: Microsoft has hired former SPD Chief Carmen Best.

Apparently, integrity isn’t part of the job description for “Director of Global Security Risk Operations.”

Her tenure at SPD was marred by dishonesty and mismanagement. (THREAD) Middle-aged woman (Former SPD Police Chief Carmen Best) sits In this highlight reel—a “Best of Best,” if you will—we’ll start with the worst first: Best’s (mis)handling of the 2020 George Floyd protests.

SPD spent $9.3m on overtime alone to gas protesters every day for more than a week. This unsustainable escalation led to… (1/11) Picture from the rear of riot cops and armored SWAT vehicles
Mar 31, 2022 6 tweets 2 min read
In this case, the rules say that police can't pursue someone who doesn't pose an imminent threat to others, i.e. catalytic converter thieves, b/c the risk of harm greatly outweighs the value of catching them.

So aren't you the "rules=bad" person here? This is a pretty common measure most police departments have adopted on their own after repeated lawsuits. The state law just codifies it.

Police departments are just making a big stink over it because they resent what they see as the Lege stepping on their autonomy.
Mar 30, 2022 4 tweets 1 min read
Note: A "bladed stance" just means to put one foot in front of the other and angle the body in the direction of a person.

Cops can use just about anything you do as a justification to assault or kill you. Oh, and in this particular case, the protester had a giant sandwich board in their hands, so they were hardly getting ready to throw a punch.