News Aug 18, 2022 at 9:37 am

A State Law Might Be Helpful to Make That Clear, Though

There are better ways for SPD officers to use their overtime hours than serving as glorified traffic cones. Tyler Gross

Comments

2

How dare you want to take away all that cushy overtime money for the glorified meter maids. Al qaeda might blow up our stadiums at any minute and the only thing stopping them are the guys who won't even show up if you're being robbed.

3

Again.... to repeat and augment... Its time to quit thinking using social workers, civilians or valet attendants are a viable substitute for having trained police present.

A large public event, attendant with all the traffic, logistical and potential for safety concerns isn't the same as having a parking attendant for your family reunion or a wedding reception.

I mean 25,000 people at a sporting event, tanked up on beer, what could possibly go wrong?

Its the same "bull plop" argument about sending social workers out on 911 domestic disturbance 911. It sounds good in a far left think tank or on The Stranger blog, but as you can see it doesn't pan out. -- Just look to the "hot mess" of defunding the police. That turned out really well didn't it?

The far left having made a pigs breakfast of the whack-a-doddle "defund the police" imitative is now looking at every way to save face.

Admit defunding the police was a mistake... hire more police and lets try and put the city back together again.

4

Hell, where I grew up, only cops (essentially all of them on overtime) could do traffic flagging at construction sites. WA is already wide open for who it lets direct traffic.

6

@1 & 3 sound like SPOG members deathly afraid of losing out on all that cushy overtime moola...

8

@7 to lose credibility they need to have some in the first place and after gaslighting the city last fall by being the mouthpiece for NKT Will was never even close.

9

Obviously we could hire a lot more uniformed police officers if we didn't have to pay out of the nose for overtime for traffic enforcement.

Either that or replace them with social workers.

I'm down with either.

10

gosh here I thought
this was about Handouts aka
Cu$hy overtime (and-a-Half!) Po-po 'work'

but it's really all about Will
and ALL tS's Writers.

who knew

Wanna save Money
AND coppers' Energy?

who Doesn't?!

Get Pragmatic Seattle!

use your Noodle and
Save a Bundle all at
the Same Time.

11

Oh and Nice
Illustration,
Tyler Gross!

12

As an ex card-carrying traffic flagger: failure to comply with orders from flaggers, police officers or firefighters is a misdemeanor (RCW 46.61.015). It would be trivially simple to extend flaggers' use to other than construction sites under event permitting regs.

13

I'll just say this - SPD is horrible at directing traffic. I don't know if it's training or what, but they need to go to Chicago or Minneapolis or even Omaha and learn how it's done.

14

Does The Stranger actually have evidence that officers directing traffic at sporting events are being paid by SPD, as this headline and article heavily implies?

The Mariners specifically pay for off-duty officers to direct traffic. There is a Seattle Times article about this from just last year.

Furthermore, off-duty officers working for 3rd parties (that is, not the city) are allowed to be in-uniform. This article also conflates the idea of an officer being in uniform with them being on-duty.

15

All LEO presence should be removed from all sporting events, turning them into Survival of the Fittest Thunderdome events. Only the strongest survive.

16

No info in the article about how other US cities solve this problem? Seems like an easy point in favor of your argument.

I moved to Chicago and it's definitely mostly civilians doing this at White Sox games. And we got the same DHS that you all do.


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