SPD @ CITY COUNCIL: Crime and hiring stats; police contracts, and why Councilmember Saka voted ‘no’ on one

| Crime | West Seattle news | West Seattle police | West Seattle politics

Two City Council meetings today had SPD in the spotlight:

2025 CRIME STATS: When the Public Safety Committee met in the morning – as mentioned in our daily event list – the biggest agenda item was SPD’s year-in-review update, including a look at crime/safety trends through the end of November. First, here’s the meeting video – the SPD item is 47 minutes in:

Here’s the slide deck that accompanied their briefing. Among the slides, this one mentioned a drop in several crime categories:

Of the homicides that did happen – so far this year, none in West Seattle – SPD says they’re solving more of them:

Gunfire has been an area of concern, here and elsewhere, throughout the year. In the lower right corner of the next slide, SPD lists the top 10 neighborhoods for shots-fired incidents, and none are in West Seattle:

One other slide of note – SPD says its hiring is still going well:

POLICE CONTRACT VOTES: In the afternoon, the full City Council voted to approve two SPD contracts. Here’s the meeting video:

The documents are linked from the agenda. The Seattle Police Management Association contract was approved unanimously, while the Seattle Police Officers Guild contract was approved by a vote of 6 to 3, according to District 1 Councilmember Rob Saka, who was one of the three “no” votes. He explains in part:

I approached this contract with two priorities: keeping our community safe and making sure our systems are worthy of your trust. That means strong response options, clear expectations, and accountability that works.

This agreement offered some positive movement, but it did not meet those standards. It also came with a significant cost increase to the city, even though Seattle Police Department (SPD) officers already are and would have remained the highest paid officers in the entire state, with or without the deal.

Seattle deserves a contract that strengthens transparency and gives civilian oversight agencies the tools they need to do their job. This proposal left too many gaps, especially around investigations and consistency in discipline. Those gaps weaken trust, and we cannot afford that.

Read Councilmember Saka’s full explanation, in an email newsletter, here.

K December 9, 2025 (7:11 pm)

Wow, Saka did something I agree with. Did not expect that.

WS Res December 9, 2025 (10:20 pm)

I, too, am surprised but pleased.
MauiShawn December 10, 2025 (9:22 am)

He has a good point. Please contact your local legislators and tell them to change the state law so police discipline and misconduct rules are no longer locked inside contract negotiations.

Westside December 9, 2025 (8:11 pm)

Geezzz…. I hope we don’t go back to the anti-police mindset that destroyed Seattle with the help of Jenny Durkin and far left. It took a long time to get some police back into our city. Let’s not go backwards. Also, the hiring has changed and we don’t need to be scrutinizing them the way that we did in the past. It’s a new ball game, so let’s move along and make sure with all the gangs and drugs that we have adequate police.

CB December 10, 2025 (9:33 am)

We don’t need to be scrutinizing them like we did in the past? It never went far enough. Officers should always be scrutinized to the highest level. That is one of the ways you build and maintain trust within the community.
Jay December 10, 2025 (10:57 am)

How is holding police accountable for the crimes that they commit an “anti-police mindset”? If anything, not having any accountability for officers is anti-police because it creates an environment where corrupt and abusive cops thrive while honest and effective cops get pushed out.
- CarDriver December 10, 2025 (12:23 pm)
  
  Jay. Bad cops should be held accountable. But police shouldn’t be singled out. If your eyes are open, you’ll find EVERY profession has corrupt or abusive employees that can and do create harm. Unless you’re going after everyone, your anger is simply misplaced.
  - Jay December 10, 2025 (1:19 pm)
    
    That’s a dishonest argument because SPOG and the contract protect police from accountability.
    - CarDriver December 10, 2025 (2:08 pm)
      
      Jay. Do you really believe bad doctors, or lawyers will speak out and testify against one of their colleges? Hasn’t happened yet. K. My point is that accountability and speaking out against bad coworkers should apply to EVERYONE. With police it always seems to devolve into they’re the only bad ones.
    - K December 10, 2025 (3:01 pm)
      
      “But there are bad people who aren’t police too!” is not the defense of SPD you think it is. Stick to the topic, please, and stop trying to change the subject.
  - k December 10, 2025 (1:46 pm)
    
    Bad faith response. No one is singling out police as corrupt and abusive. The topic of the story is SPD so that’s who they’re talking about. Staying on topic is actually what people SHOULD do in comment sections.
  - Jay December 10, 2025 (2:56 pm)
    
    This argument doesn’t make sense because the other professions you mention have professional and legal oversight and are regularly held accountable for their actions. The problem with police is that they are exempt from accountability in nearly all cases. Look at the ongoing overtime fraud scandal or all the accidents and deaths they’ve caused without consequences.

Spooled December 9, 2025 (8:28 pm)

I look forward to thousands more Police to finally have a force sized for the city. It will take time but at least we are not loosing ground anymore.

Mike December 10, 2025 (5:40 am)

Keep in mind those data points are not up to date as of the meeting, so you’ll have to do your own due diligence on data analysis for accurate assessment of year end numbers. I’m disappointed in Saka voting no. We already have the most heavily scrutinized police department in the nation and the toxic political environment here is hindering recruiting and retention of qualified and experienced officers.

Anne December 10, 2025 (6:56 am)

Saka continues to disappoint .

MauiShawn December 10, 2025 (9:24 am)

He has a good point. Please contact your local legislators and tell them to change the state law so police discipline and misconduct rules are no longer locked inside contract negotiations.

Dan December 10, 2025 (7:19 am)

Great progress made by this council and mayor. Too bad we are going to backslide now back to 2020 style BS with this new mayor of ours. She’s going to really hurt this city. It’s sad to see.