Seattle's finest are in for a windfall as the proposed police contract sees them poised for a whopping 23% pay raise, but don't hold your breath for stronger police accountability — it's virtually unchanged. The deal covers the period dating back from January 6, 2021, a notorious date for the Seattle Police Department (SPD) when members attended the rally in Washington D.C. that preceded the Capitol insurrection, through December 31, 2023, The Urbanist reports.
Critics are calling the contract a missed opportunity for reform, and according to an insider who spilled the beans to The Seattle Times, this take-it-or-leave-it deal still needs the green light from the guild's rank-and-file. The city, however, harbors ambitions of a future contract laden with the much-needed accountability measures SPOG has long resisted, but doesn't come back to the negotiating table until next year.
Seattle aims to stem the tide of officers heading for the exits and to seduce new recruits with these generous retroactive raises. But any optimism for stringent accountability is short-lived as the proposed agreement hardly moves the needle. The secretive deal had a brief stint on the guild's website, where it was downloaded and verified by The Seattle Times, before it was unceremoniously yanked.
Adding a twist to the saga, a smiling headshot of guild president Mike Solan now reigns where the contract once sat, a swap out that did not go unnoticed by KUOW. The proposed numbers may add up for Seattle's men and women in blue, but for those clamoring for reinforced oversight, it's back to the drawing board. Despite city's goals for police accountability, the most significant changes in the agreement are the digits on paychecks.
