Seattle Police's Reputation

The Seattle Police's rep is pretty much in the toilet. We've had a spate of police using excessive and sometimes fatal force when dealing with criminals. The latest incident that made the news is when they shot and killed a man brandishing a machete knife. News article here I personally do not believe it was warranted - knife versus guns. Who'd win here?

As a new transplant to Seattle, I'm pretty concerned. I've lived in DC and Denver where gang warfare and crime are rampant. And yet, I rarely heard about a police shooting that ended with fatal results. Yes I'm sure there were an occasional incident, but not to the same degree as Seattle. In the year I've lived in Seattle, there have been numerous incidents where there were fatal shootings or excessive force used.

What gives? Are the Seattle police simply not trained well enough to deal with the criminal element?

After this latest incident, families of these policemen decided to conduct anti-negativity rallies this week; a news reporter interviewed one of the high ranking policeman about these rallies and the reporter asked about their negative image, his comment was: "We are not concerned about it." (No link, sorry: I couldn't find a copy of the interview online).

My response when I heard that on the news was: they don't care that they have a bad rap? They think their actions are warranted? Fine, even? There are a number of ways to interpret his statement, true, but that was my gut reaction. Some days I feel like we're just a few steps from LA's pre-Rodkney King or "Chicagoland" of the old days.

This, while also considering the past year, left me wondering: How many other incidents weren't reported? Many of the nonfatal excessive brutality incidents came to light only because bystanders happened to have a camera phone that recorded it and contacted the local news agencies. What if nobody cried foul? If people are afraid of the police, they might not report problems with the police. Who could they talk to?

The police are supposed to be the good guys. If people are afraid of them, who can they turn to?