SEATTLE — The Seattle City Council approved proposals Monday that would reduce the police department by as many as 100 officers through layoffs and attrition — an action supported by demonstrators who have marched in the city following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis but strongly opposed by the mayor and police chief.
Measures that would cut less than $4 million of the department’s $400 million annual budget this year passed out of committee unanimously last week. On Monday, only council member Kshama Sawant voted against the budget package, saying it does not do enough to defund the police.
Seattle currently has about 1,400 police officers and the reductions fell far short of the 50 percent cut to the department that many Black Lives Matter protesters are seeking. Several council members said the changes were a starting point in a long process to reimagine policing and public safety.
The City Council cut Police Chief Carmen Best’s roughly $285,000 salary and the pay of other top police leaders, although the final cuts to Best’s salary were significantly more modest than those approved last week. The council plan also takes officers off a team that removes homeless camps.