Tired of Josh and Erica's boring ol' Okanogan County/public utilities dizzzzzztrict whatevers/transit oriental development/and Bruce Harrell something something? Well then welcome to Afternoon Fuzz!

1) SPD Chief John Diaz and Councilman Tim Burgess are in the midst of a heated police horse discourse (I SAY THEE NEIGH!!!) down at city hall, and the SeattlePI.com is on the case:

Seattle Police Chief John Diaz has told City Councilman Tim Burgess that maintaining the Mounted Patrol Unit – which could be eliminated because of a lack of funding – would be consistent with departmental goals to combat crime

Burgess, head of the Council’s Public Safety panel and a former policeman, and the Council are at odds with a private foundation over continued funding for the Mounted Patrol Unit. The unit has five full-time equivalent employees and a total annual expense of $728,000, according to Burgess, manpower and money that could be better spent elsewhere, considering the unit ranks 36th out of 42 police priorities. In February the Seattle Police Foundation announced a fundraising campaign to save the Mounted Unit, and is dismayed that the Council appears ready to reject donations from them to help keep the horse patrol. Burgess has said the department needs to prioritize “first response services” and “proactive response services” by police who respond to 911 calls and those on Anti-Crime and other teams.

In a Thursday e-mail to Burgess, obtained by the seattlepi.com, Diaz said […] A restored horse patrol that is heavily subsidized by community support is not only cost efficient but can make an important contribution here [.]

2) Police agencies from around the region are up in arms about a today's USA Today piece which says law enforcement  (on the east coast) are overwhelmed with reports of suspicious packages.

SPD, the King County Sheriff's Office, and the Washington State Patrol want you to know that they've got all the time in the worrrrrrld to investigate reports of suspicious packages, and they'll be anxiously sitting by the phone until you call. From the press release:

Executives from several Puget Sound area police agencies are concerned by a recent report in USA Today suggesting that bomb squads in major eastern cities have been overwhelmed with reports of suspicious packages.  They fear the article will discourage local residents from reporting suspicious packages.

“We are not overwhelmed, and we still want those calls,” said Seattle Police Chief John Diaz. “Our mantra remains ‘if you see something, say something’.”

The article reports that most of the suspicious package calls turn out to be benign, such as forgotten purses or backpacks.

That’s just fine with King County Sheriff Sue Rahr.  “We’d rather respond to a hundred false alarms than miss the one real threat,” Rahr said.

The executives acknowledge that suspicious package calls can be disruptive, especially at airports or state ferries.  But local officers and bomb squads never know which purse or backpack will be “the one.”

...

“I would rather explain why someone missed a ferry than explain why a loved one was injured or killed,” [Washington State Patrol Chief John] Batiste said.

If you see a package or item that strikes you as suspicious, don’t touch it.

Simply call 911.

3) SPD would also like you to know that robbing your co-workers = a bad idea. From the SPD Blotter:

The victim and the suspect are coworkers at a restaurant in the SODO neighborhood.    On August 25th, shortly after 4:00 pm, the victim left work and walked toward his bus stop.  The suspect approached the victim in the 1700 Block of 4th Avenue South from behind and began striking him in the head, knocking the victim to the ground.  The suspect, whom the victim immediately recognized, grabbed the victim’s backpack.  The suspect then fled on foot.  The victim called 911 and reported the robbery to police.  The case was assigned to a Robbery detective.  The detective instructed the victim to arrange a meeting with the suspect.  On September 1st, shortly after 1:00 pm, Robbery detectives arrested the suspect when he showed up to the meeting.  The 30 year old suspect  was interviewed by detectives and later booked into the King County Jail for Investigation of Robbery.