Seattle could lose 200 more police officers due to vaccine mandate

September 7, 2021 Carley Joanou US 0

Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan at Seattle City Hall in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Karen Ducey/Getty Images)

Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan (D) at Seattle City Hall in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Karen Ducey/Getty Images)

OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 3:28 PM PT – Tuesday, September 7, 2021

The Seattle Police Department could soon lose over 200 more officers amid the mayor’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate. Mayor Jenny Durkan (D) issued the mandate last month, which has required all city workers to be vaccinated by October 18 or be fired.

According to Seattle’s Jason Rantz Radio Show, more than 200 officers either haven’t been vaccinated or have refused to hand over their private medical data. Seattle has already lost about 300 officers over the push to defund the police, which resulted in a surge in violent crime.

The city has been in negotiations with the President of the Seattle Police Officer’s Guild, Mike Solan, who said the mandate didn’t make any sense.

“If you’re advocating for more police officers because you know crime is on the rise, you need more cops because of what the city council did, why are you threatening us with our jobs if we don’t get this vaccination?” Solan questioned. “It’s unbelievable to me.”

A spokesperson for the mayor said they hoped terminations wouldn’t be necessary. However, if the officers chose to not get vaccinated, Seattle would lose about 20 percent of its already depleted police force.