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Lord, guide us with Your Spirit of discernment and truth. Help us navigate these issues with your grace. Please, help us to make wise decisions that would make our country flourish and ultimately glorify You.
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Kate Du Vernoy is an IFA Intercessor who has asked us to share this article and lift up the entire Seattle City Council.  We are asking that “the fear of God and a change of heart about defunding the police will come upon them.”

Will you join us in praying for:

The council members in support of defunding police:

Tammy Morales, Kshama Sawant, Teresa Mosqueda, Lorens Gonzalez, Lisa Herbold, Dan Strauss, Andrew Lewis

Also, for strength for: Mayor Jenny Durkan, and the City Council members who are opposed to defunding police: Alex Pedersen and Deborah Juarez.

 

SEATTLE — A total of $76 million will be cut out of the Seattle Police Department’s 2021 budget, Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan announced Monday.

That includes transferring $56 million out of the department’s budget and moving some responsibilities to other departments, including parking enforcement. Another $20 million will be cut by not expanding the police force in 2021 and reducing overtime. . . .

The announcement comes after calls from at least seven of nine council members saying they support cutting the department’s budget by half and reallocating money to other services.

Mayor Durkan said that while there is a “historical opportunity” to reform the department, changes need to be based on facts and data. She said those on the council who’ve committed to cutting police funding have done so with “no analysis” and “without a plan.”

Durkan said she would veto any drastic cuts the council approves.

WATCH: Seattle officials discuss budget changes to the police department

Police Chief Carmen Best previously said defunding the police department by 50% is simply unrealistic. On Monday, she said the consideration to drastically cut the department’s budget is “reckless.”

“I do not believe we should be asking the people of Seattle to test out a theory, that crime goes away if police goes away. That is completely reckless,” Chief Best said. . . .

Sawant said the mayor and chief were “gaslighting” the public, while Gonzalez called it “spin.” Mosqueda is targeting an August 3 vote for legislation, which means a lot would have to be sorted out in a short amount of time.

The push by activists and the council to defund the SPD also comes at the same time as the city faces an overall budget crisis, with a shortfall caused by the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Downtown Seattle Association issued the following statement Monday:

“Calls by a majority of the City Council to immediately reduce our police spending by 50% without a plan or a process is not leadership or governance; it’s a recipe for chaos in our communities. The important work to restructure policing and reexamine how we provide community safety will not happen overnight, and deserves more thoughtful and responsible planning. This work cannot be accomplished in the two-week budgeting exercise that is in front of Council.  Mayor Durkan and Chief Best have outlined a reasonable and responsible timeline and action plan to examine the roles and responsibilities of SPD.   

We support bringing more voices to the table and look forward to working with communities across the city to ensure that this vision of a safe city for everyone becomes a reality. We also hope to see that all associated city investments are linked to tangible health and safety outcomes for all, with a robust commitment to tracking and metrics. Safe and healthy neighborhoods are critical for our small businesses, arts and cultural institutions and the city to bounce back from this recession and thrive again.

We must ensure that our values are represented and reflected in the systems that we create, not just the systems we dismantle. As we outlined in two published reports on the criminal justice system, there are many critical elements of our systems and societal safety net that need to be addressed for the safety and health outcomes we desire. This work demands we move beyond slogans and work together on solutions for everyone.” – Downtown Seattle Association

(Excerpt from King 5. Article by KING 5 Staff, Associated Press. Photo from Getty Images.)

This decision was followed by the retirement announcement of Seattle’s Police Chief, Carmen Best, pictured here on the left: “This is not about the money, and it certainly isn’t about the demonstrators. I have a lot thicker skin than that. It really is about the overarching lack of respect for the officers. … Targeting my command staff and their pay, it just felt very vindictive and very punitive, and I don’t want them to be affected by that type of animus.’’

What do you think about Seattle’s decision and Chief Best’s response? Share your comments below!

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SONYA SANDERS
August 15, 2020

Lord, I pray in Jesus name. Please help the city of Seattle, Washington. Please raise up Godly men with strong values for life and justice. I pray you will raise up a rigteous new group of men who will take over the city council and they will lead the council in true justice, with sound decisions.
Please Lord God have mercy and spare the righteous of Seattle. I pray they will live in healthy neighborhoods with no fear of criminals and murders. I pray for their protection and their voices will be heard.
I pray for the mayor of this city that she will do what is right first. I pray for the chief of police that she will enjoy her retirement. I pray for the members of the city council will use common sense and think of the people they serve and not themselves. I also pray the ones who are against the police will be removed and the people will vote them out.

I pray people become born-again and serve you. They will bring about Godly changes and community actions that protect the city and it’s citizens from villians and mayhem.

In Jesus Name
Amen

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Mary Brown
August 14, 2020

The communists want to get rid of the blue shirts so they can replace them with the brown shirts and overthrow the government.

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Mel Teoh
August 14, 2020

Just Father,
Thank you for this article.

Father God, thank you for the opportunity to pray for WASHINGTON state and its Senators, Representative, Governor and his administration. We pray that all these people in government to draw close to You God. To know You. Because Proverbs 9:10 said: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”

Matthew 7:7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”

In Jesus’ Name, Father, if You will, please keep WASHINGTON a red state with conservatives value whose allegiance is to God, put American (People) first then do the Constitution. So that Republican Party can do their job to protect the right of the people as it is intended when it was created in 1854.
I pray that the Republican Party will be as united as the Democratic Party.

Father God please raise up Christian men and women to be like Daniel who dare to stand for what is right, who will have no corruption in them because they are trustworthy, not corrupt, nor negligent. They will not bow before any the idol in the form of money, power, fear and influence. They will stand firm and speak the truth in love. They are the righteous whose allegiance only to KING JESUS.

In Jesus’ name, please clean up corruptions in every level of the government.

Thank You Father for leading the election of 2016. We ask you again Father that You put Your hands in this 2020 election so that elections to be fair, honest and without corruption.
Father, please mobilize the Body of Christ from every corner of WASHINGTON to vote in person this Nov. 2020, to vote for President Trump so that he will be given a landslide winning and bless P Trump with all republicans conservatives administrations who will put You first and always pray for Your guidance to run this country to go back to the beginning when the founder of America made a covenant with You.

I pray that the Body of Christ will exercise their right to be SALT and LIGHT of the world and be involve, more engage in government not only electing but working in the government to ignite America under God. The Body of Christ / The Church draw close to God, pray without ceasing, always wearing the Armor of God, always ready to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Body of Christ will live a family live that is desirable and envied by others so that they want to know more about Jesus.

I pray that America will always respect the Bill of Right that was written by Thomas Jefferson on January 1, 1801 – a wall of separation from there being a state-church – This is what many whom fled from England experienced; where the church and state were one and the same. He was concerned that the government would fund religion as they did in England and that religious worship at a state-church would be deemed compulsory. As In his memoirs, he wanted to make sure that the state would not impose their own ideology or theology upon all churches.

Father God, the Supreme Court Justices are NOT to be lifetime justices. They can be removed if their character, actions, etc. are deemed unmoral. They cannot be judicial activists. They are not to make laws as their responsibility is only to GIVE AN OPINION or TO INTERPRET THE LAW.
Remove those from the bench who will refuse Christ and will always walk away from You and Your precepts. I pray for all the current justices to draw near to You so that they can do the jobs that they signed up to do. Please save this honorable court.
Please restore the checks and balances on each branches’ power. As of late, the Legislative branch has abdicated its powers to both the executive branch and the judicial branch. We sorely need our true representation restored, since we are losing even the idea of ‘no legislation without representation’ and ‘no taxation without representation’. Father, restore just government to all branches, in Jesus name.

May the grace of the LORD Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all from today onward.

Hear our cry, O Lord, and attend unto our prayers as we pray for turnaround in America, ONE state at a time. In Jesus’ name we thank You. Amen.

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    Julia VanderKolk
    August 14, 2020

    I praise God for your prayer Mr. Teoh. May the Lord raise you up and answer your every request so that we may praise His Holy & Righteous name together. NOTHING is too hard for him. In Christ alone,

    12
Linda May
August 14, 2020

Praying against this lawlessness. Give give the city leaders wisdom and discernment. Help them not to bow to satan’s evil agenda. I pray revival in the city in the name of Jesus!
#riotstorevival
#proteststopraise

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CHERYL M ORR
August 14, 2020

The laborer is worthy of his hire! When that biblical principal dies, so does the desire to give an honest day’s work for an honest day’s wage. Police officers risk their lives every hour they are on duty, so how much do you think you would want to be paid for that level of risk for yourself? Their commanding officers are responsible for their training and overwatch, so how much do you think the weight of that job is worth if it was your life and soul standing before Almighty God as your judge? I marvel that anyone would feel called to do these jobs at all! Yes, not ever officer who comes through training has the best intentions for America’s citizens at heart. So the selection process and training need to be strengthen. That can’t happen with less money to work with, yet the true problem is the de-valuing of justice in America. Too many of us have forgotten that we will all stand before GOD to account for every action of our lives. May our compassionate and wise Lord pour His Spirit into America to cleanse and repair us that we will desire to do what is right in His eyes!

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