SEATTLE — Policing in Seattle’s past and future took center stage Friday night as Mayor Bruce Harrell and challenger Katie Wilson clashed in a debate over public safety and the city’s troubled police leadership.

Harrell accused Wilson, co-founder of the Transit Riders Union, of supporting efforts to defund the Seattle Police Department.

“My opponent has never hired one employee. My opponent has no background in public safety except arguing to defund it,” Harrell said.

Wilson countered that her views have shifted since the 2020 protests, saying policing debates have grown more nuanced.

“We can't just scale down the size of the police department based on the calls that we think can be taken by alternative responders,” Wilson said. “That's just one thing that I think was not well understo

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