This Minneapolitan Is Envious of Seattleites

null Dec. 28, 2023 12:43 pm ETPolice vehicles in downtown Seattle, March 24, 2022. Photo: David Ryder/Bloomberg NewsAs a Minneapolis resident, I am envious that Seattle voters are pushing back against the defunding of their police department by electing city-council members on law-and-order platforms (“Seattle’s Murder Boom,” Review & Outlook, Dec. 21). In contrast, our voters re-elected city-council members who demonize police. They recently voted down a proposal for modest incentives to encourage retention in a police force that has lost more than a third of its officers.Like Seattle, with our hopelessly understaffed police force, we have endured a corresponding explosion of violent crime since 2019, with murders nearly doubling. Sadly, I have concluded that there is no number of deaths that will change the minds of these council members and their voters, who approach public-safety issues with the rigid ideological mindset of religious fundamentalists. Copyright ©2023 Dow Jones & Co