Volunteer medics are available to tend to medical needs, alongside tents with medical supplies, gourmet food donated form local restaurants, fruit, snacks, water bottles free for whomever needed them.People walk around the newly created Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ), in Seattle, June 11, 2020. Yes, the same city that abandoned a police precinct and allowed a six-block section of their town to be occupied by militant protesters is now defunding their police force. (Photo: Seattle PD) Seattle police who executed a search warrant of a van abandoned near a series of weekend fires recovered heavy-duty fireworks (explosives), weaponry and riot gear believed to have been used during riots in the area, officials announced Wednesday. "We need to have officers responding to calls in a timely fashion and with the occupation, we're not able to do so in a timely way. By continuing to use our site, you accept our use of cookies, revised Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. Following days of clashes with protesters, Seattle police largely withdrew from the Capitol Hill district -- including the department's east precinct -- which left a vacuum for protesters. By. "We want to make sure that we are responsive to the community concerns and community needs," Best said. “Reducing the budget of the Seattle Police Department is a response to the calls for advocating for racial justice and investments in BIPOC communities,” Council President M. Lorena Gonzalez, a Democrat, said in a statement after the vote.BIPOC stands for black, indigenous, and people of color.Cuts to the police include terminating 32 patrol officers and slashing the number of some specialized units like mounted officers and school resource officers.Seattle has approximately 1,400 police officers and a yearly police budget of approximately $400 million.Council members also approved the elimination of the “Navigation Team,” which responds to homelessness issues, and voted to move victim advocates from within the police department to the human services department.The amendments were first passed by the council’s budget committee Along with the cuts, the council approved appropriating $17 million to scale up community-led public safety interventions, including $3 million for “participatory budgeting for public safety.”The vote came on the same day the city’s budget office showed that 2020 revenues are projected to bring in $337 million less revenue compared to estimates in the adopted budget—a 19 percent drop.City officials, however, are already planning deeper cuts for next year’s budget, on which work will start in the coming weeks.The city council in a statement described the approval of defunding as “initial cuts” and “a down-payment for future potential reductions” to the department’s budget.In a letter to council members last week, Jason Johnson, the acting director of the Seattle Human Services Department, said he was greatly concerned “regarding your action to eliminate the Navigation Team with no plan on how to address” issues like encampments, of which there are over 250 active.“I hope you will reconsider your decisions, and fully fund continuation of the Navigation Team’s life-saving, vital work,” he wrote.Police Chief Carmen Best told officers in a message made public last month that it was “completely reckless” to “ask the people of Seattle to test out a theory that crime goes away if police go away.”Police officials last week rolled out a website they said highlighted in-depth information on the department’s policies regarding de-escalation and other measures, data on crime and calls for service, and internal manuals.Best and Democratic Seattle Mayor Durkan repeatedly said they were against deep cuts but last month unveiled a proposed $76 million in reduced funding, in an apparent bid to temper movement towards a larger defunding.“We both recognize that we have a historical opportunity and obligation to reimagine how policing can be done in Seattle.