Seattle - ‘Shut Up and Be a Good Little Socialist’: Seattle Policeman Blasts City‘s New ’Social Justice Initiative’

OFF THE WIRE
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/shut-up-and-be-a-good-little-socialist-seattle-policeman-blasts-citys-new-social-justice-initiative/
Seattle Police Officer Steve Pomper sparked outrage after authoring an opinion piece in his local police union’s newspaper entitled, “Shut up and be a Good Little Socialist.” In it, Pomper rails against the city’s race and “social justice” initiative which requires public safety officials to undergo extensive training on racial profiling and cultural sensitivity, or what he calls “de-policing classes.”
“The city, using its Race and Social Justice Initiative, continues its assault on traditional and constitutional American values such as self-reliance, equal justice, and individual liberty,” Pomper’s op-ed begins. “But more to our concern, the city is inflicting its socialist policies directly on the Seattle Police Department.”
In addition, the police officer‘s opinion piece blasts Seattle’s city attorney for cutting back on prosecutions for particular crimes partly because the city claimed African Americans were disproportionately charged.
“When somebody comes in with a policy like that,” Pomper says, “it doesn’t allow us to treat people with equal justice.” It’s socialism, he says.
City Attorney Pete Holmes defends the city’s progressive policies. For example, driving with a suspended license is almost always charged when a person’s license has been suspended for failure to pay a fine, Fox News reports. But Holmes says 44 percent of those prosecuted for the crime were African American. According to Holmes, the disproportionate number of blacks being charged is a direct result of economic inequalities.
Racial minorities are more likely to be poor than whites and unable to pay their fines, Holmes says, adding that it’s a waste of city resources to prosecute those cases. “If we start to learn and understand that one of those institutional causes of racism is actually in the criminal justice system,” Holmes says, “it’s our obligation as prosecutors to address it.”
Holmes and other city officials are looking for other ways to promote “social justice,” including a possible reduction in the minimum sentence for misdemeanor crimes so legal immigrants convicted of crimes are not deported. Though the police seems to skirt federal immigration laws, Holmes says it’s more important for the city to keep immigrant families together.
Though Pomper has voiced his discontent, his superior officers have condemned his op-ed as a “stupid thing to do.”
“We firmly and wholly support those programs,” Police Chief John Diaz says. “This is something that critical to how we run our department and this city.”
Fox News‘ Megyn Kelly examined Seattle’s “social justice” agenda Monday on America Live: