LISTEN: Former Seattle Police Officer says the city is getting worse for cops. Your browser does not support the audio element.

A former Seattle police officer warns the city is becoming an increasingly hostile place for law enforcement.

Former Seattle chief: Policing needs a license

Steve Pomper recently retired from the Seattle Police Department, but he’s still speaking out on policing issues. In his new book “De-Policing America: A Street Cop’s View of the Anti-Police State,” Pomper argues social justice movements are making police less vigilant than they’ve been in the past.

“I saw social justice as treating people as members of a group as opposed to individually,” Pomper told 770 KTTH’s Jason Rantz. “I just don’t see how social justice can combine with equal justice because they’re opposed to each other.”

Pomper made headlines in The Seattle Times and The Stranger back in 2011 after writing a piece in the police union newspaper titled “Just Shut Up and Be a Good Little Socialist” where he complained about anti-bias training that officers were required to undergo.

“We have to react to behavior,” Pomper said. “We were taught, certain cultures, you know, maybe you give them a little bit of leeway because of certain behaviors that are endemic in their culture. That kind of thing, I understand that, but for the most part, officers have to deal with actions and not with other extraneous elements at the time.”

If you’re a police officer considering work in the Puget Sound area, Pomper doesn’t recommend Seattle.

“As far as what filters into the Seattle media and what filters into the liberal government and establishment,” Pomper said, “you don’t feel supported at all.”

Rantz asked Pomper if he thought things have improved since he retired.

“No,” Pomper said. “In fact, from talking to the officers who are still on the job, it’s gotten worse.”

The lack of support from Seattle government is the nucleus of Pomper’s complaint. He believes white officers responding to incidents involving people of color will be more hesitant because they’re worried about retribution.

“The thing is it’s not bad when they do that, people have done that to cops forever,” Pomper said. “The difference is the reaction above.”