Good afternoon.
Thank you all for being here.
In a moment, the chiefs and I will provide an update on yesterday's demonstrations and conversations and actions we've taken as a city.
First, though, as long as we have these city updates, I want to make sure that we provide time and space to remember why we're here.
Last week, Monday, a man named George Floyd was murdered at the hands of four police officers.
All four of them now have rightfully been charged.
George Floyd was a son a father a partner a brother and uncle.
He should be alive today.
His murder is the latest example of the racism that permeates every institution in our country and reminds us of the work we still must do.
Over the last six days thousands across Seattle have come together to raise their voices share in their anger and grief, and to demand justice.
I am thankful to those demonstrators for sharing their voices, even in the midst of a pandemic, to demand more from people in positions of power, including me.
Yesterday, thousands gathered, marched, and protested until the early morning hours.
I am grateful that our city remained peaceful throughout the night.
I want to express my deep thanks to protesters and community activists who showed up again and showed again the power of collective action.
I'm grateful that there were no injuries and no arrests.
That must remain our goal, for we want there to be peace and safety both for those coming together to speak out and for our police department.
I have every confidence that can be achieved.
Every night, Chief Best has worked with her commanders and officers to adjust their approach to see what they can do further to de-escalate, like moving barriers further down a hill so there's more room to spread out and creating more distance between officers and demonstrators, communicating more with the crowd, relying on help from those who are there peacefully to stop someone who might be throwing something at officers.
And there was a powerful moment when officers lowered their shield and demonstrators lowered their umbrellas.
I also want to thank Chief Best for her tremendous leadership.
Last night, she took the time to go herself to speak with demonstrators on the front line.
She sought out Omar Salisbury, a community activist and journalist who has been live streaming the demonstrations.
He's the very person who filmed the now known as the pink umbrella video, which showed so clearly the escalation of events Monday night.
Last night, walking with Chief Best, he filmed for all to see the view from the officer's position, both closer to the barrier and in their new positions further away from the barrier.
He also pointed out to the chief something that should help, setting up a sound system so those who are demonstrating can clearly hear police on the lines.
As he noted, how can you communicate when people cannot hear you?
These moments and more like them show that when we come together and listen, we can move forward.
Chief Best and I have discussed and will continue to discuss how we can and should make adjustments and reforms and de-escalate at these demonstrations.
We know we need more dialogue between officers and demonstrators.
We need more communication on the front lines.
So Chief Best is making some additional adjustments there.
I also want to thank Chief Best for going herself to reach out and meet to some of the demonstrators to show that she is part of this community and will always listen to them.
I also want to give a shout out to the courageous demonstrators who stayed there till the early morning hours, making it clear that they would not tire in their demand for justice.
I also want to make clear my commitment to the residents and businesses of Seattle.
I believe wholeheartedly that Seattle can lead the way in continuing to transform our police department, our criminal justice system, and the kind of resources and investments we make in communities that have been neglected far too long, particularly our black communities.
Yesterday, I continued to have meetings with community to hear their deep grief and trauma, their anger, and their demands and ideas for change.
For me and for all of us who have not lived the black experience, now is a time of deep personal examination, a time to acknowledge our privilege and the need to step aside for other voices to be given the power they deserve but have been denied for generations.
So I appreciate the time and leadership of all those who were willing to make themselves vulnerable and speak of their own experiences.
From their experiences, only will the change come that we need.
In each of these meetings, we heard many people ask that the curfew be lifted.
I want to acknowledge Reverend Harriet Walden, who's been particularly eloquent in her statements about its impacts And the impacts that it had to look like, state was taking action to silence voices and prevent collective action.
And while the curfew was put in place by Chief Best's recommendations as a tool to help stop the looting and violence, we knew also that it was important for people to be able to gather and to demonstrate peacefully.
No arrests were made because of the curfew, but despite this, it is clear those voices have been lifted and we have heard.
So Chief Best and I lifted the curfew last night.
I've also spoken with Chief Best and other members of her leadership about the importance of changing the policy related to morning badges and the black tape.
Chief Best will address that when she gets up here.
We want people to know we are listening to them.
We've also heard from many people about their concerns that body-worn video cameras were turned off during the demonstrations.
Many of the demonstrators have expressed their desire that body-worn video remain all the time, even during the peaceful demonstrations.
As I said on Tuesday, I believe we can and should change this policy.
But I also realize the policy was put in place for very good reasons after work by the city council, the CPC, and civil liberties groups before I was mayor, to protect the privacy interests of those who gather and protest, to make sure that the state cannot surveil people or take actions against them.
Tomorrow I plan to meet with additional organizations to hear from them, and then hopefully ask council, community, and civil liberty groups to reexamine the current law.
The Seattle Police Department is ready to turn those cameras on as soon as the policy is changed and that work can be done.
I talked to Chief Best and made my expectation clear.
We have to be optimistic.
We want to have peaceful demonstrations.
Chief Best and I recognize every officer, every interaction with every officer can either add to or diminish trust.
And I've heard that from the officers themselves on the front line.
They know how important their actions are and that the actions of one can be attributed to the many.
Yesterday, I also had the opportunity to speak with City Attorney Pete Holmes and Chief Best about the consent decree.
While the city made clear in its previous filing and the court had orally indicated that we had met the terms of a sustainment plan, we also made clear that we needed to come back to the court to address the concerns about discipline and accountability.
But we also heard from community very loudly and very clearly that they felt that motion was an indication that we were abandoning the principles of the consent decree.
It was not, but it was important that we show that and take a pause.
So yesterday, we withdrew that motion.
As many people know, I was very involved.
I conducted the investigation that led to the consent decree, and I was the original person signing the consent decree.
I believe it's brought significant, important, systematic changes to the Seattle Police Department.
And that through the hard work of our community and police officers, we have reformed how we do policing.
We've created better training, transparency, and new oversight measures when force is used.
We will continue to have the same kind of scrutiny as we continue to look for additional ways to increase transparency and accountability.
And I also want to be very clear that when I say the Seattle Police Department has made great progress on reforms, it's true.
But saying that doesn't mean we're done or that there isn't more work to do.
Just because we have made real gains, it does not mean we are finished.
For example, the court approved the city's crowd management plan in 2017 before I took office, and before the Office of Inspector General was created.
That crowd management plan approved the policies that you've seen implemented today.
On Tuesday morning, after I was able to view that pink umbrella video, I met with the Office of Inspector General and the Office of Police Accountability.
I asked OPA to ensure that they could investigate any individual officer actions in which there is a question about their use of force.
I also asked the Inspector General to review the policies and practices of crowd management.
Continuous reform means honestly evaluating and then reevaluating any of our policies, plans, procedures, and training.
No one is more committed to that than Chief Carmen Best.
She believes in and demands a culture of continuous improvement.
When she sees officers, policies, or procedures she believes are contrary to the community good, she is the first person to demand change.
There has never been a larger test of our resolve, our commitment to justice, and our commitment to police accountability.
It will test our accountability system to ensure that all complaints can be investigated fairly, transparently, and expeditiously, that policies and practices are reviewed by the Office of Inspector General, and that Inspector General makes recommendations on how they need to be changed.
and that the Community Police Commission is given meaningful oversight on accountability for the department.
I think both the court and the public should know that the use of force in demonstrations, as well as how the accountability systems work, must always be scrutinized.
We must make sure that the public has trust in it.
Before I pass this on to Chief Best, I want to again implore everyone to continue making your voices heard, but to do so in a safe and peaceful way.
Yesterday, we showed how that could be done in the thousands until the early morning of the hour.
I've also reiterated, remember, we are still in the midst of a pandemic.
In recent weeks, the city has been working on a plan to significantly increase community-wide testing, And Chief Scoggins and I will be sharing more information about that later today together with Public Health Seattle in King County.
I want to close by saying we are in very difficult and tumultuous times.
The city, your country, your community, we all need everyone now more than ever.
Thank you.
Good afternoon.
As we have done every day when we have these press briefings, I want to start out by just taking a moment to pay homage and reverence to George Floyd, who was needlessly murdered at the hands of police officers.
That is what triggered this latest set of protests and really brought to light and highlighted the need to have more discussion, more engagement, and more demonstration to get peace and equity for everyone.
So I just wanted to start with that.
Last night, I'm glad to report that we had peaceful demonstrations.
No injuries to officers, no injury to demonstrators, and no arrest.
It was a good night in the city in that regard.
I had the opportunity, as the mayor said, to walk around, to visit with many members who were demonstrating peacefully in the streets in Capitol Hill.
And really, it was quite a wonderful sight to see.
I also saw one of our sergeants talking to the crowd and just engaging with them along with other officers.
who went out to the crowd and engaged with them.
It really was a chance for people to see that we actually and truly care.
We're a police agency, but we're all people.
At the end of the day, we're people, and that's what the police agency is made of.
And so it was really heartwarming to see.
Earlier in the day with the mayor, we met with a number of demonstrators and leadership in the demonstrations.
And they asked specifically about the tactics for the evening.
And I don't, I'm not clairvoyant, but what I could promise them was that we will meet peace with peace.
And that is what I saw last night.
And again, that is what I hope to see tonight.
People able to come together to very energetically express their First Amendment right to free speech, an officer standing by for the safety of the community and themselves, but certainly a way that we could be all in the same area and nobody get injured, nobody get hurt.
and everybody, you know, act in a way in accordance with how these things should work.
It was very, very heartwarming.
As the mayor said, you know, we're a part of the community and not apart from the community.
And I always say, and I mean this sincerely, we are all in this together.
So it was very heartwarming to see, to have that interaction last night.
As we move forward, we all need to start healing as community members, as demonstrators, as police officers.
We received a list of concerns from some of the demonstrators and we are reviewing each and every single one of them.
Today, I talked to the widow of Officer Antonio Terry, who was killed in the line of duty 26 years ago.
I knew him personally.
I knew his two young boys at the time.
I'm a friend of his wife.
I wanted to chat with her and tell her about some of the changes that were coming forward.
And with a heavy heart, I wanted to address some of the mourning bands and the badges.
As I've noted before, they're a longstanding tradition of honoring those who were killed in the line of duty, many of whom in this organization I knew personally and were personal friends.
Yet we know that we have to work with community members and we have to address concerns that they express.
We get our authority from the public and from the people.
So this afternoon, I will be issuing a special order to address this.
The department has to strike a balance between honoring officers who are killed in the line of duty and our responsibility to maintain the public's trust.
All officers will have their badge numbers prominently displayed.
Sergeants and above who currently do not have badge numbers on their badges We'll be getting a new policy and new badges as we develop long-term solutions to include making sure that numbers are on all department badges.
We've heard people.
We understand.
We want to make sure that we are being transparent.
and that people don't have the belief that we are in any way trying to hide who we are when we're addressing people in the public.
We also still need the ability to address and mourn and pay homage to those who've lost their lives in the line of duty.
So we wanted to make sure we made that policy correction.
on behalf of what we've been hearing.
As the mayor mentioned, again, we are working through a whole host of issues.
We'll be looking at every single recommendation, every single thing that people have asked us to review.
And I will just end by saying we will always meet peace with peace.
There's nothing more important than making sure that people get to express their rights and their freedom of speech rights, but also making sure that we protect the public, life safety, incident stabilization and protection of property.
Thank you for that.
I will turn it over to my wonderful colleague in public safety, Chief Harold Scoggins.
Good afternoon, my name is Harold Scoggins, Fire Chief of the Seattle Fire Department.
I want to start off once again by thanking our Mayor for her steady leadership during these very challenging times.
And I just don't mean over the last week, I mean over the last three months, we've had some very challenging times here in the community.
And our public safety partnership between Chief Bess and I, you know, it's really important that we have that.
I also want to thank all of our peer departments who are out there doing everything from cleanup to board up that you see happening around this community.
Some of you may be wondering, you know, how does the streets get so clean each and every day?
Well, there's a group of people going out to take care of that.
You know, in George Floyd, that memory is there, just like there's so many others before him.
But he's brought us here today.
So the Seattle Fire Department situational update is this.
Yesterday we responded to eight emergencies in and around the different protests that were taking place.
But I do want to highlight one thing.
This is the second day in a row that we've had a seizure that's tied to the protests.
I want to remind those who are coming out to protest and express your First Amendment rights to please hydrate, bring food if you're going to be here for a long period of time.
because these things will happen.
And I do want to remind the protesters who, if someone goes down, pay attention to who's around you.
Please call 911. Please figure out a way to notify us, to help us get through the crowds, to get the patients the care that they need.
That's really important.
We had five medical emergencies yesterday, and this is really important.
I also want to remind you, as the mayor mentioned, that we are still in the middle of a pandemic.
Please bring face coverings and bring things to wash your hands throughout the course of the day.
That is one of our fears, that once these protests end, that we're going to start to see a spike in COVID-19 cases.
So take care of yourself, physically distance, and we're going to be there to support you.
Thank you.
Thank you, Mayor.
Thank you, Chief Best and Chief Coggins.
I want to remind everyone that we have only a few minutes left to take questions today, so we will not get to everybody, and I apologize in advance.
With that, we will start with Daniel Beekman at the Seattle Times, followed by Kate Walters, KUOW.
Daniel, the floor is yours.
Thanks a lot.
This is a question for the mayor.
One of the Demands that was presented outside City Hall that I saw yesterday was to cut the Police Department budget in half and redistribute or redirect those funds to community programs and needs.
What are your thoughts on that?
So I think first a few things is every department will see cuts including the police department.
We do know that we need to not just continue the level of investments we have in the community but to increase those and we are committed to doing that.
We also know that moving forward that Public trust is very much related to whether they see that there's a balance between the commitment we make to public safety and the police, and the commitment we make to the people and the needs, the great deep needs of our communities.
And so we've worked very hard, for example, over the last three months during this pandemic to right size our budget in many ways to give more direct need and we will continue to do that.
We also have to realize that Public safety is critical to every part of our city.
While these protests are going on, police are still called to respond to any number of actions, from domestic violence, to burglary, to assaults.
And when people dial 911, they want the police or the fire department to show up.
And so we have to make sure that we have enough people and resources to make that true.
Thank you, Mayor.
Our next question will be from Kate Walters, KUOW, followed by Brandi Cruz, Q13.
Kate, the floor is yours.
Thank you.
Chief Vest, this is a question for you.
Just looking for clarification on the morning bans.
You mentioned changing the policy there.
Is that something that people will see today with badge numbers visible?
And then beyond that clarification, can you just confirm, you said you'll always meet peace with peace.
I think some protesters would contend that that has not happened earlier in the week.
And so what would you say to those folks who say that?
Okay, well, that's two questions, but I'm happy to answer both.
I just issued the order, so I have to give enough time for people to read it, to know it, for it to be disseminated amongst the troops.
So it will probably take a day or so before everyone has that information.
As you can imagine, we have people working three different shifts at all different times.
But it is in place and will be administered and effective immediately.
But we do expect there to be a little bit of lag time as people catch up to policies that have been issued.
In regards to meeting peace with peace, I will say to you that if in fact, you know, there is any instance where anybody, there's the allegation of anybody in our organization instituting or instigating an incident.
We are going to make sure that we hold everybody accountable.
Our goal is to make sure that we do meet peace with peace.
And I know that people have some concerns and some varying opinions about if or when that happened.
All of that again will be reviewed.
will be specifically analyzed.
We'll make that determination through the Office of Police Accountability through Director Meyerberg.
Thank you, Chief.
Our next question will be from Brandy Cruz, 213, followed by Carolyn Vick, South Seattle Emerald.
Brandy, floor is yours.
This question is for the mayor.
I just do want to make sure that Mr. Beekman's question gets answered about whether you believe that the police department should be defunded at 50%.
But, you know, my question is not only did spoke speak about that outside City Hall, but you also invited several organizers and community activists into City Hall for a meeting, some of whom believe you should defund the police department.
So what message do you believe that sounds that private meeting with individuals who believe that?
What message do you think it sends to the rank and file members of SPD that you would entertain a conversation like that?
Um, I think the rank and file of SPD knows that this is a time when the chief and I have to be meeting with community and have to be hearing voices of every type.
I know the chief has talked to a lot of officers about that very thing and they themselves have expressed that they know the importance of doing that in this time.
I think I did answer the question.
We will not defund by 50%, but we will make sure that we have a level of commitment to community that we can make an investment that is proportionate to the needs.
And that those communities that have been left behind and locked out of the system can see that we as a city have heard the voices and know, as I said yesterday, that true public safety is not just when a police officer shows up to the door.
The police are not public safety.
True public safety comes from good prenatal care, access to child care and preschool, access to real education and economic opportunities, to health care and to affordable housing.
Those are the things that people need.
And if we have those things in community, we'll all be safer.
Thank you, Mayor.
And our next and final question this morning, this afternoon, will be from Carolyn Vick, South Seattle Emerald.
Carolyn, the floor is yours.
Hi.
Yes, Mayor.
Thank you.
Given the 14,000 complaints pending with OPA, and your own city attorney's decision to withdraw the consent freeze waiver, as well as to publicly express concerns with regards to accountability.
Are you considering reapplying for the waiver within the next few weeks or months?
And exactly what kinds of police transparency and accountability measures are you looking into and what are the timelines for those?
So those are great questions.
I think I talked to the Chief and I talked to City Attorney Holmes starting last Thursday.
The Chief and I were discussing the consent decree and how to move forward.
I think we have to have deep community engagement to talk about a range of reforms.
Some of those will require court oversight, but others require us to trust in and make sure that the Office of Police Accountability and the Office of Inspector General have the resources they need and can show that they can withstand this kind of test.
The OIG is a new office.
When I met with them on Tuesday, both OPA and OIG, I told them and assured them that they would have the resources from the city and the budget they needed to get through all complaints and do whatever reviews they need to do to hold officers accountable, to clear cases, but to make recommendations on the policies, procedures, and implementation of all of the activities during these demonstrations, but particularly the crowd management control.
So I think it's going to be a very important test that the system that has stood up with great community input and after 10 years of the consent decree, We have to show that it can work.
And one of the things in showing it can work is to make sure they have the resources they need to process the complaints they receive and the concerns that citizens and residents and businesses express.
Thank you, Mayor.
Thank you, Chief Best and Chief Stoggins.
This will conclude our Q&A portion of today's presser, and I would like to remind everyone on the call that there will be a 5-15 presser this afternoon, and we will preserve the queue for then.
I want to thank everyone for being here, and I'll see some of you later this afternoon.
Thank you.