Not to mention bizarre.

Call in each cop individually, ask if it's true that the cop feels he / she cannot do their job within the rules. If they say "no," allow them to sign a letter of resignation. If they say yes, fire them immediately for insubordination.

Nothing strange about this at all. Once Durkan went after McGinn and SPOG backed Murray, it seemed pretty likely some kind of three way agreement was in place. All post election events related to the three have supported that conclusion.

I like the Slog Police. They erased one of my earlier comments without explanation. Just like a profiling racist pig cop who will fine or arrest someone without giving a reason. Cool Justice!

Martin Durkan, Sr. is rolling around in his grave somewhere...

This whole issue is bigger than just the 126 officers who have proven themselves to be active enemies of the city, or the SPOG fostering and supporting these attitudes while maintaining just enough distance to duck decertification, or the fact that the City has allowed and encouraged all this. This entire fiasco is yet another view into how the entire institution of policing is based around violently defending the wealthy and powerful and the status quo they desire from all threats, real and imagined, and most especially the vast majority of decent people who gain no benefit from having an armed gang claiming the right to "protect them".

This should not be surprising, because it reveals what was going on all along. This was never really about fixing SPD. It's about politics. Durkan wants to get elected to office and needed a win. She and Gregoire wanted to destroy McGinn. They wanted to please their friends at the ACLU and in leadership roles in community organizations representing people of color. And they were getting pressure from DC to take action.

But they were never actually interested in real fixes. Those were always secondary to their political goals. That is what people completely missed in 2012-13 when everyone was running around saying that the DOJ was going to save us all and oh my god how dare we not just give them they keys to the kingdom.

Everyone involved got reform wrong in the last few years. We in the general public erred in not seeing this primarily as an issue of "how do we assert democratic, popular control over SPD?" We made it "how do we give the feds the most power?" and we're seeing now what that gets us. Until we the people assert control over this process, we are going to discover that politicians will prioritize their own needs over fixing SPD.

Basically the message from the doj to the good cops (surely the are out there) is "don't stand up, go along with the bullies, because we ain't gonna do shit"

Can't really think of a worse message to send right now.

Ms Durkan wants to be an honorary member of SPOG, Just like Mayor Murray.

If there is any good lawyers out there they should be working on a "Class-Action-Lawsuit" against these 123 officers on the behalf of all those people out there that have been touched by Seattle Police "Brutality and Abuse”. When will we hear from our new chief about these officer, it's been 2 days since the lawsuit was filed and no word from her.

I think your coverage of this is great, Dominic! You are the only one who is really attacking it. But I think you misjudge the political/press game she is playing. I think she just might have aces up her sleeves and is too keen to reveal her hand.

I wonder if she's a little mentally off. If this was just evidence of a political deal, she'd still lie, but it would be a believable lie.

There is nothing good about Seattle right now. No, not even the 15Now, because it wasn't 15Now, it's 15SomeDay.

I didn't think the SPD could make themselves look any more pathetic than they already have but I was wrong. I'm so tired of cops whining and crying about how dangerous
their jobs are and how the most important thing is getting home at night. Here's an idea: find another line of work. Oh, I forgot. There aren't any other jobs where you get to bully the citizenry while referring to them as "civilians" and make up the law as you go along. I spit in your general direction.