Seattle, WA
Seattle firefighters demand action over assault surge in homeless camps: ‘There is no consequence’
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Seattle firefighters are demanding motion after first responders confronted 40 assaults in 4 months in homeless encampments as crime continues to surge.
Former Seattle firefighter Andy Pittman joined “Fox & Associates First” to debate why the development has worsened and the way the assaults have impacted the pressure’s morale.
“It is largely as a result of there isn’t a consequence for something of this nature in Seattle,” Pittman advised co-host Todd Piro. “They know that with the decreased variety of police within the metropolis after final yr’s [vaccine] mandate and the continued decline in morale, that they get to jot down their very own playbook and do as they want.”
In keeping with the Seattle Hearth Division, there have been 855 fires in homeless encampments up to now this yr.
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(Seattle Police Division)
The town’s mayor, Bruce Harrell, introduced a $150 million spending plan in latest weeks to deal with the estimated 13,000 people that make up the encampments, however Pittman is satisfied the problem will not be solved till it impacts elites at their “entrance door.”
“I believe there’s approach too many individuals profiting off the homeless to do something about it, and it hasn’t reached their entrance door but,” Pittman mentioned. “So it is simply going to proceed to be the identical drawback again and again.”
The homeless disaster has plagued Seattle for a while, however has worsened considerably for the reason that COVID-19 pandemic started.
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“The previous few years they’ve elevated spending yearly to attempt to fight the issue,” Pittman mentioned. “And there appears to be extra organizations there to swallow up that cash, however by no means any headway once more within the homeless drawback.”
Pittman misplaced his job over the vaccine mandate, which has left town battling a police officer scarcity as crime continues to derail metropolis streets.
“Most of those firefighters are all the time prepared to do their job,” Pittman mentioned. “I believe extra they’re afraid that town’s going to deal with them the identical approach that I used to be handled and a number of their brothers and sisters had been handled on the way in which out.”