Defend NOT Defund

I went to my first rally today.  It felt good to be actually doing something to show my support for police officers and the work they do.  And it felt sad to see people on the opposing side and their anger, yelling, and deep misunderstanding of what police officers do.  There was a lot of community support for police there today.  Many people do understand that to defund would be the wrong choice--especially for the communities that need police protection the most, those in the poorer communities around Seattle.  But the City Council is marching forward with their plans to make some cuts.  At this point Derek's job looks safe.  But we aren't sure that the citizens of Seattle will be with few officers (we are already so understaffed), a command staff now being paid far less than they should be, and moral among officers very low.

Tomorrow is another vote.  I'm hopeful that 160,000 signatures on the stop defunding petition and the rally today will help show the City Council that they should rethink their plans.