Not even a brag. Just a statement of fact: Nothing like DivestSPD exists anywhere in this country. We produce weekly hyperlocal police misconduct stories, and we do it for donations. DivestSPD needs your support to keep this work alive. Tiers start at $5 Https://ko-fi.com/divestspd

DivestSPD@divestspd.bsky.social · 2d ago

"Let's not and say we did" -Old Seattle police public records proverb An SPD records employee was caught delaying bodycam requests for months. She claimed she was waiting for the video specialist to redact them. She never submitted them. open.substack.com/pub/divestsp...

Not even a brag. Just a statement of fact: Nothing like DivestSPD exists anywhere in this country. We produce weekly hyperlocal police misconduct stories, and we do it for donations. DivestSPD needs your support to keep this work alive. Tiers start at $5 Https://ko-fi.com/divestspd

DivestSPD@divestspd.bsky.social · 2d ago

"Let's not and say we did" -Old Seattle police public records proverb An SPD records employee was caught delaying bodycam requests for months. She claimed she was waiting for the video specialist to redact them. She never submitted them. open.substack.com/pub/divestsp...

The Public Records Act allows a penalty of up to $100 per day for every record delayed plus attorney's fees. 26 bodycam requests were delayed by nearly a year + 20 911 audio recordings were destroyed + another 14 requests were delayed. That's millions in legal liabilities the city could face.

DivestSPD@divestspd.bsky.social · 2d ago

"Let's not and say we did" -Old Seattle police public records proverb An SPD records employee was caught delaying bodycam requests for months. She claimed she was waiting for the video specialist to redact them. She never submitted them. open.substack.com/pub/divestsp...

This is like in that Stephen King book/film "Thinner," where the only way to get rid of the curse is to put it in a pie and feed it to someone.

Jason@jrock08.bsky.social · 2d ago

I think it's unfair that Lake Washington Boulevard has played host to Seafair and Blue Angels for so long. Other parts of the city deserve to pay host to this amazing tradition!

In settlement negotiations for my second lawsuit against the Seattle PD, the city REFUSED to implement a third party audit of Seattle PD's compliance with the Washington State Public Records Act as part of our settlement agreement. Wilson could order that today.

DivestSPD@divestspd.bsky.social · 2d ago

"Let's not and say we did" -Old Seattle police public records proverb An SPD records employee was caught delaying bodycam requests for months. She claimed she was waiting for the video specialist to redact them. She never submitted them. open.substack.com/pub/divestsp...

Essential reading for Seattle from @divestspd.bsky.social www.divestspd.com/p/spd-staffe... Archived here: archive.ph/1ZP3J

SPD staffer let records be destroyed, delayed bodycams' release for nearly a year

The Seattle Police Department fired a public records employee for arbitrarily pushing back deadlines, lying to requestors, and allowing 911 audio records to be destroyed, according to a recently relea...

divestspd.com

DivestSPD@divestspd.bsky.social · 2d ago

"Let's not and say we did" -Old Seattle police public records proverb An SPD records employee was caught delaying bodycam requests for months. She claimed she was waiting for the video specialist to redact them. She never submitted them. open.substack.com/pub/divestsp...

There are 18,000 police departments. Each has anywhere one to two dozen public affairs specialists. Seattle has five or six. LAPD has 25. Most of those are smaller PDs with one or two. Ballpark estimate is 50,000 police PR specialists at least

Josh Sternberg@joshsternberg.com · 2d ago

There are 7 PR people for every journalist in the US. www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti...

DivestSPD@divestspd.bsky.social · 2d ago

"Let's not and say we did" -Old Seattle police public records proverb An SPD records employee was caught delaying bodycam requests for months. She claimed she was waiting for the video specialist to redact them. She never submitted them. open.substack.com/pub/divestsp...

"Let's not and say we did" -Old Seattle police public records proverb An SPD records employee was caught delaying bodycam requests for months. She claimed she was waiting for the video specialist to redact them. She never submitted them. open.substack.com/pub/divestsp...

SPD staffer let records be destroyed, delayed bodycams' release for nearly a year

The Seattle Police Department fired a public records employee for arbitrarily pushing back deadlines, lying to requestors, and allowing 911 audio records to be destroyed, according to a recently…

open.substack.com

Shon Barnes came to Seattle hoping for an easy legacy—to be the guy who “rebuilt SPD”— and he was phoning it in. He was hiring nearly 4% of applicants, when other chiefs hired 2-3%. Last time a chief (Best) hired 4%, we got: * a sex pest * a fraudster * abusers * Kevin Dave

It couldn't be clearer what's happening with local legacy media trashing Mayor Wilson: the reactionary centrist majority is about to melt away & they're trying to bake in a narrative that she has fucked up in some catastrophic--but also indefinable--way, to hamstring the coming progressive majority

“We exited the consent decree w/ Barnes” Lmao he joined SPD as the feds were finalizing the exit. “Crowd control” was the sticking point, & a disastrous protest response in May could’ve derailed that. “Hiring officers” By dangerously lowering standards, but sure!

heck yeah new police chief just dropped

Brett Hamil@bretthamil.bsky.social · last wk.

this is my favorite SPD command staffer to draw

Our goal was never to make SPD “better.” We assume that SPD *won’t* get better. We call attention to that, and try to claw every dollar away from the department we can. That’s the plan. That has always been the plan. It’s in our group’s name.

Wakka Waka@i-am-a-ghost.bsky.social · 6d ago

Now, more than ever in the last couple years, is there an opportunity to change things. Seemingly, your life’s work is about demanding better from SPD; I don’t understand the pessimism. What is that contributing to this issue?

Chief Shon Barnes has formally resigned. Deputy Chief Andre Sayles, another outsider and one of Barnes' appointees, will take over as Interim chief for now. It's likely a stopgap measure until they can find someone to serve while the City searches for a new permanent chief.

The contracts are a done deal, but it might be an opportunity to push SPD to slow down hiring and raise standards to a bare minimum level. But that probably won't happen. Public Safety Chair Bob Kettle likely knows Barnes' hiring standards were in the basement and doesn't care.

Wakka Waka@i-am-a-ghost.bsky.social · 7d ago

Opportunity to claw back some budget $$ with their underperformance and bad PR? Restructure the police union contract?

Seattle is hiring at breakneck speeds. Twice the normal rate. No one trusts our absentee police chief, who was in Chicago when this went down, yet they somehow believe that the raw recruits he's flooding the Seattle streets with are all qualified. www.divestspd.com/p/the-seattl...

The Seattle police are lowering hiring standards—and we can prove it.

In June, a city analyst presented a quarterly report showing that the Seattle Police Department is on track to hire more cops than it can afford under its current budget.

divestspd.com

Hot Take: DGAF who the chief is. It's one of those things the media treats as important, but it's not. Departments are hulking leviathans, and chiefs can't change them that much for better or worse. They manage the political side, and Barnes failed at that. That's it.

The Divest Digest: July 29, 2026 IN THIS ISSUE * Consult the gun violence away * Super stalking troopers * Inquest clears killer cops open.substack.com/pub/divestsp...

The Divest Digest: July 29, 2026

Consulting our way out of gun violence, stalking troopers, cops crowd 'Make Heaven Crowded,' inquest clears killer cops

open.substack.com

COMMUNITY REQUEST: We're asking supporters to help cover monthly subscription costs for all the tools we use to expose and publicize police misconduct. Can you pitch in? venmo.com/divestspd

The Divest Digest: July 29, 2026 IN THIS ISSUE * Consult the gun violence away * Super stalking troopers * Inquest clears killer cops open.substack.com/pub/divestsp...

The Divest Digest: July 29, 2026

Consulting our way out of gun violence, stalking troopers, cops crowd 'Make Heaven Crowded,' inquest clears killer cops

open.substack.com

New season just dropped

COMMUNITY REQUEST: We're asking supporters to help cover monthly subscription costs for all the tools we use to expose and publicize police misconduct. Can you pitch in? venmo.com/divestspd

Here's the video. CN:It's not graphic but the screams are somewhat unsettling.

DivestSPD@divestspd.bsky.social · last wk.

A Kent police officer couldn't get his dog to stop mauling an innocent man. So he punched the dog in the face. Watch the video here 👇 open.substack.com/pub/divestsp...

The 1966 UT Tower massacre was a pivotal moment in the militarization of the police. It's one reason every podunk PD has an APC and a SWAT unit. The tragedy at Seattle Center will be exploited to argue for more cops, cameras, police tech, etc. We can do better.

A Kent police officer couldn't get his dog to stop mauling an innocent man. So he punched the dog in the face. Watch the video here 👇 open.substack.com/pub/divestsp...

Kent cop punched K9 who wouldn't stop biting innocent bystander

Kent Police Officer Ethan Tudor's K9 wouldn't stop mauling a man who was just going to a movie, so he punched him repeatedly in the head.

open.substack.com

And #FollowFriday for privacy, surveillance, tech justice here in Washington state: @stopsurveillance.bsky.social @divestspd.bsky.social @ourseattle.bsky.social @deflock-redmond.bsky.social @wa-privacy.net Also @troublemakers.bsky.social and Washington AI Resistance! bsky.app/profile/trou...

Troublemakers@troublemakers.bsky.social · 2w ago

Should the future be decided by people or chatbots? Join the first Washington AI Resistance Virtual Listening Session on July 27 to help us shape our campaign to put people first! RSVP here:

Your tax dollars hard at work.

"Some fights never stop. They just find a new generation" The closest analog to Joy Hollingsworth in the late 1960s was moderate Sam Smith, who was constantly shitting all over the Seattle Panthers. Hollingsworth is a vehicle for Chamber policies, with a thin veneer of vibes on top.

Paul Chapman@poulchapman.bsky.social · 2w ago

This is a BATSHIT level of moral license exercised by Joy Hollingsworth and Dionne Foster. They’re keeping kids hungry and ashamed rather than make rich people slightly inconvenienced.

Cops know how to cover their tracks - The office wasn't equipped with cameras, but other rooms were, so he shouted.”Put down the gun!" - He called his sergeant first, not 911, to report that his wife pointed a gun at him - He told this narrative to deputies and restated it in text to his wife after

DivestSPD@divestspd.bsky.social · 2w ago

Seattle Police Officer Marlon Williams-Booth, a self-appointed "elite hero of downtown Seattle," used his FIFA “urban warfare” training on his wife. He was arrested at the end of May. open.substack.com/pub/divestsp...