A new report from Seattle’s inspector general found Seattle Police Department (SPD) officer bias may have escalated tensions at a May Day rally last year, which resulted in 23 arrests and 16 reported uses of force.
The report found SPD expected violence from protesters and treated them as a single hostile group rather than a mix of community members, activists, and bystanders — a finding KIRO host Gee Scott said sows distrust.
“When you have a department that treats different groups differently at some of these events, this is how you lose some of the trust,” he said on “The Gee and Ursula Show” on KIRO Newsradio. “I also talked about consistency. The City of Seattle needs consistent types of behavior for all parties. That way, in all public safety, everybody feels safe, especially centered around any type of protest. That way, different groups don’t feel singled out, and you’re not in this situation in the first place.”
‘A lot more work that needs to be done’: Ursula disappointed in SPD
After all the reforms following 2020, KIRO host Ursula Reutin was dismayed by how SPD handled the rally…