Seattle businesses have a problem on their hands. Ongoing political violence from violent Antifa and Black Lives Matter types, coupled with increased criminal violence and vagrants doing drugs and taking dumps in commercial areas has crippled business in the city of Seattle.
The violence has blossomed in part thanks to fewer cops on the job after the local government implemented fashionable “defund the police” policies that were demanded by some residents and plenty of radicals. Go figure. And now, these same businesses are griping over the steep new costs for hiring private security to make their declining customer base feel safe.
What’s more, it looks like their problems will soon grow dramatically. The Seattle PD, already down significantly, looks to lose hundreds more cops. Up to 40% of the department face termination for failing to take the COVID jab.
KIRO covers the story of businesses that are demanding help paying for protection from vagrants, drug users, and violent criminals…protection that used to be provided by a police department . . .
Businesses in Seattle say the need to hire security officers to prevent crime has become so dire, they’re now asking the city for grants to help cover some of those costs. Some call it a band-aid solution, but other businesses say it would help while Seattle works on addressing the homelessness crisis.
Some businesses say they’re dealing with damaged property, or having to call in cleaning companies daily to clean off excrement. Others are hiring security to keep tourists and staff safe. For example, multiple Seattle underground say their guides have been assaulted, repeatedly.
Company “Beneath the Streets” said they’ve considered hiring security.
“We’ve looked into that and it’s very expensive. We’re lucky we’re still in business after the shutdown,” said Terrilyn Johnson, a co-owner of Beneath the Streets.
Hiring a security officer costs $50 – $120 an hour depending on what kind of security guard or off duty officer you’re hiring. Now some are hoping for better solutions.
The security guards in the video story from KIRO were working sans firearms. And we all know how much respect unarmed security gets from those who don’t respect society’s norms already.
But it gets better. A group of downtown Seattle establishments have spent really big bucks to pay a pair of off-duty Seattle PD cops to patrol their little slice of heaven purgatory. And they want taxpayers to help cover their security costs.
Also from KIRO . . .
One group of downtown businesses have been paying $35,000 a month to hire two off-duty police officers to patrol about six blocks near 6th Ave and Pine Street.
“These small businesses losing their windows and doors – we need this as a stop gap measure and help them,” said Lou Bond, who is the property manager at the Melbourne Tower, a Seattle office building.
So just to be clear, Seattle businesses want taxpayer dollars to pay off-duty cops to patrol streets near them left vulnerable to criminals due to the city’s decision to stop using taxpayer dollars to pay city cops to patrol those same streets. Do we have that right?
It’s not as if all of this wasn’t entirely predictable. Can you imagine what would happen to the quality of life in your city if you lost 40% of the police department to terminations for failing to take the WuFlu jab? Are you about to find out?