The killing of George Floyd and the protests that followed added momentum to a growing movement across the nation calling for police departments to be defunded. In our "LIVE" season 1 finale one of our guests, Ijeoma Oluo, author of the best-selling book, So You Want to Talk About Race, gave an excellent explanation of why she thinks the police department should be defunded. Shortly afterwards, we decided to put together a three-part series with the Seattle Chief of Police Carmen Best, a city council member, and a community activist to hear all sides of this debate. Part One : On this episode, Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best explains her opposition to the defund movment as well as her thoughts on re-imagining policing in Seattle. We also talk about her decisions during the protests downtown and on Capitol Hill, the abandoning the East precinct and her thoughts on the racial justice movement. To conclude this episode, Erica C. Barnett provides analysis of our interview with Chief Best and highlights some of the complexity currently being dealt with at City Hall.
Listen to Ijeoma Oluo talk about the need to Defund the Seattle Police Department : HERE
0:00 - Episode Introduction
1:08 - Hosts Check In
14:12 - Interview with Carmen Best
46:47 - Analysis with Erica C. Barnett
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Erica C. Barnett is a feminist, an urbanist, and an obsessive observer of politics, transportation, and the quotidian inner workings of City Hall. She has been a writer and editor since the time of electric typewriters, is a contributing writer for the South Seatttle Emerald and has written for publications such as PubliCola, the Stranger, Seattle Weekly, Shakesville, the Austin Chronicle, and many more. Right now, she is walking around the city.
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Produced In Partnership With :
Town Hall Seattle (https://townhallseattle.org/)
The South Seattle Emerald (https://southseattleemerald.com/)
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Executive Producer + Host // Marcus Harrison Green
Executive Producer + Host // Enrique Cerna
Additional Production Support Provided By // Hans Anderson & JEFFSCOTTSHAW
Music Provided By // Draze "The Hood Ain't The Same" // http://www.thedrazeexperience.com/about-draze/