Seattle Police Chief Memo To Businesses: We Have ‘No Ability To Safely Intercede’ To Protect You From ‘Violent’ Crowds

Seattle’s police chief issued a memo over the weekend, warning the city’s residents and business owners that police officers would not be able to “safely intercede” in the event that homes and businesses were targeted during expected protests after the city’s council passed a measure barring cops from using non-lethal crowd control methods.

The new measure, passed as a way of preventing members of the police force from using excessive force, “bans Seattle Police officers the use of less-lethal tools, including pepper spray that is commonly used to disperse crowds that have turned violent,” according to Chief Carmen Best’s letter.