National Police Association Podcast number 62: Mike Solan, President of the Seattle Police Officers Guild, discusses how to fight defunding the police.
National Police Association Podcast number 62: Mike Solan, President of the Seattle Police Officers Guild, discusses how to fight defunding the police.
QUOTES
01:59 "It's incumbent upon police unions to be the officers' voice and officers right now need that more than ever. That's why it's so important police unions exist and we need to get more involved."
06:40 "I think a year from now we could see a significant reduction in the Seattle Police Department force probably four to five hundred people down. And that would take years, a decade at least, to recover."
13:37 "Police departments, police in general, the profession, has been tragically behind the 8 ball here as far as getting our messaging out there, driving a narrative. Not spinning a narrative. But we need to explain our actions, provide contexts and facts."
14:02 "What the media typically does is they are biased to a degree. And there's no way we can capture that narrative back without doing our own activism. It has to be reasonable activism and we have to get out there in the forefront."
20:43 "Cops are the only recourse to tyranny to stop this nonsense. Obviously, we have our wonderful military but cops are the ones that are holding the line right now and we can't let it get more violent."
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SUMMARY
In this episode of the National Police Association Podcast, Sgt. Betsy Smith interviews Mike Solan, President of the Seattle Police Officers Guild. Today, Mike highlights the progressive nature of the Seattle police and the incredible need for his community to strengthen its police presence.
He also talks about his role in the police union and what a massive undertaking it is to overcome biased media on a national scale. Mike also explains that many people tend to forget that police officers are human too and they need the community's support to be able to deliver the service that the volunteered to do.
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HIGHLIGHTS
00:25 Defining the purpose of a police union
05:20 Rasmussen Reports: The silent majority wants more cops
07:02 Seattle police department: Highlighting its progressive and professional training
12:20 Getting past media biases and releasing the truth of police officers
19:04 Holding the line and predicting the consequences of defunding
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RESOURCES