Nine months ago, as Seattle leaders began reckoning with the legacy of police brutality, racially biased policing, and the results of ongoing disinvestment in Black and brown communities, we asked our readers to help us pay for a part-time reporter to cover police accountability in Seattle.

We couldn’t have gotten luckier in hiring superstar reporter Paul Kiefer to cover this crucial beat. Since Paul came on board, he’s brought readers in-depth and breaking-news coverage on every aspect of the accountability beat, from efforts to defund the police and invest in community-based alternatives, to participatory budgeting, the process by which the city plans to replace some police functions.

In nine months, Paul has also written feature-length pieces about alternatives to policing, the impact of police shootings on victims’ families, and the future of the youth jail in Seattle’s Central District, among many others. 

We want to continue and expand this coverage, by keeping Paul on staff after the one-year funding period for his position ends and by bringing him on full-time to cover this important beat, including the upcoming Seattle Police Department contract negotiations.

To do that, we need your help, so please consider making a one-time or recurring contribution to maintain and expand this important coverage. There are lots of ways to contribute, including Paypal, Venmo, by making a monthly donation on Patreon, or by sending a check to PubliCola at P.O. Box 14328, Seattle, WA 98104. Just make sure you note that your contribution is for our police-accountability coverage so we can make sure it goes directly and entirely to fund this position. Thank you so much for your ongoing support for the work we’re doing here at PubliCola.