Police department sees record number of departures in 2020

Seattle has had 110 officers leave its police department in 2020, including 39 police in September, according to the department.

That marks the most leaves in any year since at least 2012, according to the department. There were 92 departures in 2019, 109 in 2018 and 79 in 2017, the Seattle Times reported.

The police department made 51 hires at the beginning of this year before the coronavirus pandemic and Mayor Jenny Durkan began a temporary hiring freeze.

There have been 53 resignations, 50 retirements, six firings and one death this year, the department said.

Most of the departures have been retirements by officers with more than 20 years of service or resignations by officers with up to 10 years of service.

Of the 53 who have resigned, 26 people said they were moving to another law enforcement agency, 17 cited “personal reasons” and 10 cited no reasons, according to the mayor’s office.