“Our calls for service have more than tripled,” she told reporters. “These are responses to emergency calls — rapes, robberies, and all sorts of violent acts that have been occurring in the area that we’re not able to get to.”
At the press conference with Durkan, who claimed the occupants of the “Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone” (CHAZ) were engaging in an act of “patriotism,” Best remained noncommittal on a when police might return to the area, but explained that the evacuation had come after reports the precinct could be burned down.
“We were asked to do an operational plan, in case we needed to leave,” Best said, not saying who exactly gave the order to withdraw. “We got an update that there was the potential for fire — of course if the precinct goes down in fire, the whole block could potentially burn up.”
FROM HERE
