SEATTLE — The Seattle Police Department (SPD) lost more officers than it hired in the first quarter of 2022.
It's a trend that really began in the summer of 2020, and so far, there is no concrete solution on how to change course.
New data, to be released officially on Tuesday, shows that 43 sworn-in police staff have left in 2022, while 13 have been hired, leaving the department with a net loss of 30 officers.
The trend is projected to continue. Data shows the SPD expects to hire 98 more officers in 2022 and lose 113.
The corner of Third Avenue and Pike Street has been a flashpoint for conversations about police presence and public safety this year. A mobile police precinct has helped deter crime downtown.
"It's not just the visibility, but it also gives a place for the overtime officers working on Third Avenue to stage out of," said Seattle City Councilmember Andrew Lewis.
After multiple shootings and assaults, the command post was established earlier this year. Lewis said it's here to stay, even though the officers who staff it have moved on.
Downtown business owner Leila Farange credits the precinct for restoring order on Third Avenue. She said the police presence has boosted business at her gyro shop.
"They cannot move the precinct because that's our lifeline," said Farange. "It's increasing every day because people are coming back to work."
The Seattle staffing situation has been mirrored in other big cities, like Denver and Dallas, where the Great Resignation also hit hard. But in Dallas, there was also a big reduction in violent crime.
It's a trend Lewis hopes to model.
"We need to look holistically at the response," said Lewis. "We're not going to get out of the public safety crisis that we have in Seattle by hiring more officers. We need to be hiring more officers, that's necessary but not sufficient - we need to be hiring other responders as well, that's just the facts, that's just the reality."