#seattleprotestcomms #ProtestCommsSeattle #DefundSPD #DefundThePolice Hi, friends. We're long overdue for a talk about SPD's overtime budget, the SPOG contract, and the upcoming year's policy goals. This is not going to be a light-hearted read.

Let's start by saying that this is an exploration of the constraints of this current situation. I do not mean to diminish the work of radical organizers. I do not mean to suggest that these are the only paths forward. Please support & encourage a diversity of tactics.

Now, onto SPD's overtime spending. They blow their OT budget every year. This spending is normally obfuscated, but in 2016, the Seattle Office of City Auditor produced a report showing that every year from 2010-2015, SPD overshot their OT budget.

See Page 6, Exhibit 1. So where does this money come from? As far as I can tell, in late Dec. or early Jan., City Council amends the past year's budget to pay for SPD's overspending *from the City's general budget*.

http://www.seattle.gov/Documents/Departments/CityAuditor/auditreports/PublishedReport-Corrected-04_22_16.pdf

When I reached out to Council, once in mid-October, once in late-October, and several more times with my local Councilmember, I was universally ghosted. Hello, @CMAndrewJLewis @LewisforSeattle. Honorable mention to @CMTammyMorales and @CMTMosqueda.

Here's why I believe Council historically writes SPD a blank check for overspending, and why I believe they will this year:

CB 119720, amending 2019 budget: http://seattle.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=4268630&GUID=F2B45685-BFE7-4660-A86A-4EC136B10351&Options=&Search=&FullText=1

CB 119668, also amending 2019 budget:
http://seattle.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=4198673&GUID=4A9C7E16-D647-43E6-97A0-DBA36318D1C0&Options=Advanced&Search=&FullText=1

CB 119430, amending 2018 budget, http://seattle.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=3774503&GUID=C28433F9-9F06-480C-A80A-82BA02370FA6&Options=Advanced&Search=&FullText=1

CB 119156, amending 2017 budget, http://seattle.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=3283986&GUID=328C7D0A-8290-4320-942C-6E67661C0864&Options=Advanced&Search=&FullText=1

CB 118874, amending 2016 budget, http://seattle.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=2905975&GUID=58F2842D-D369-495F-9D88-47DEA51C0DB8&Options=Advanced&Search=&FullText=1

CB 118581, amending 2015 budget, http://seattle.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=2524635&GUID=5C49FA14-9206-4287-9E2E-98FE50988FE9&Options=Advanced&Search=&FullText=1

I am not a lawyer nor an accountant, and would love to be wrong about what this process means and looks like. But from where I'm sitting, it looks like SPD's maliciously over-policing protests to strong-arm the city at the end of the year into "re-funding" them.

Each dollar they overspend on OT, they can extract from the city. The internal politics of this are also important: SPOG can crow to media about how they were "defunded", and to members about how they forcefully wrenched that money back.

Individual officers will see this as a "win." They'll have their pension set (did you know SPD pensions are a percentage of the average pay of your 5 highest paid years, including overtime?. Here's an article talking about Chief Best's pension: https://crosscut.com/news/2020/08/chief-bests-departure-shines-light-generous-police-pensions)

Given all this, I still expect Council to write them a blank check. But we need to make it painful - there should be protests & media coverage before the vote. The vote needs to be publicized & polarized. We can't let them sweep a betrayal like this under the rug.

Now, the SPOG contract. It's set to expire on Dec 31, 2020. As I understand it, the process works like this: the mayor negotiates with SPOG, then asks Council to approve the resulting draft. If the draft is not approved by City Council, the old contract will remain in effect.

This is awful because the expiry provides no leverage!
The only upside is that the contract determines police pay bands; police pay will be stagnant (excl. years-of-service raises) until the contract is re-negotiated. This provides leverage, but only over a 5-10 year span.

If I were in SPOG's shoes, what would I do? Knowing the Mayor is on my side, I'd offer a sheep in wolves' clothing; a contract with 0 concessions but sections that would be optically bad for Council to reject. If this happens, we have to force Council to reject it anyways.

There's a graphic of "4 rules for police budgets," but I can't find it, so:
1. No more money, it doesn't matter what it's earmarked for.
2. No more tools, they will only be used to pervert justice.
3. Don't imply that police create safety.
4. I've forgotten #4 :( Link in replies?

These rules are immensely helpful for evaluating the SPOG contract. More money for body cams? Violates #1 and #2, garbage idea. We've already seen how that footage will be in prosecutor's or media's hands the next day, and in victim's hands a year later.

I guess what I'm getting at is, we should be gearing up for these both, right now, and I'm not hearing nearly enough chatter about it. Council has yet to deliver us anything, but in the next 6 weeks, they could betray us twice, and it's up to us to prevent that.

Have ideas on how to do this? Good! Go! Do them!

If you don't:
- Support organizers. Show up to marches.
- Educate everyone. Flyer, go door to door.
- Call, email, cyberbully; more voices need to be heard for #DefundSPD.
- Talk to union members/reps. Big orgs are important.