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If members of SPD opt to provide their vaccination status to the city and leave those who remain unvaccinated up to the will of the City (a panel comprised of people who have yet to be named) to grant them a religious exemption, you may be surprised to find out there is a possibility that nobody will be granted said exemption. While this particular post may be an opinion, it is provided as such while considering the following facts.
Looking at what is happening to WSP staff, they have been advised this week that “there is no accommodation that can be provided for the religious exemption requests.” More details regarding WSP's forthcoming mass termination can be found here. Think about this. The State is willing to rubber stamp every religious exemption request with a big DENIED across it, forcing hundreds of troopers out of a job.
For those who have persisted through what the City has pinned against SPD in the past 18 months, it has taught us the following. There is no good reason to believe that the city will be less aggressive than the State in their stance against granting religious exemptions. With the political climate in Seattle, this should be no surprise to anyone. In what we all know as the totality of the circumstances, evidence suggests that the City may have no hesitation in replicating the State's decision in denying all exemption requests, claiming that they cannot make such an accommodation for "public facing" workers.
This leads us to the following concern, which would be devastating to those who remain with SPD. Will they be willing to allow SPD to drop to even lower staffing levels at the expense of rising crime levels within the city? Well, ask yourself this. What has the city done in the past 18 months to show they're dedicated to supporting police, reducing crime, and providing police services at effective and safe and levels for both the public and officers? As you think of that, does that taste in your mouth resemble that of optimism...or a lick of a light pole at 3rd and Pine?
Are you willing to allow your brothers and sisters to be terminated, resulting in an extremely and far more dangerous work environment than we've already endured through the mass exodus of the past year? Are you willing to forego any hopes of a 4/10 schedule and, instead, operate under a Blue/Gold schedule until you cannot physically and mentally do it any longer?
Our best chance at combatting the City's attempt at terminating our fellow officers is to band together as one in solidarity with your brothers and sisters. We all swore to protect and serve, and have proven ourselves to be willing to sacrifice our lives for the communities in which we serve. Now it is time to protect yourselves and your fellow officers. We must take this stand together and refuse to provide the City with the vaccination status of any employee.
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