Seattle Police working in two-person teams after Dallas shooting

SEATTLE -- The Seattle Police Officer’s Guild demanded that the Seattle Police Department focus more on officer safety ever since the deadly shooting in Dallas that left 5 officers dead and several others wounded.

Police Chief Kathleen O’Toole confirmed on Friday that nearly every officer would be working in teams of two.

But not every department can do the same.

King County Sheriff John Urquhart said the officers in Dallas did what they had to do to minimize further casualties.

“They stood between the protesters and the gunfire, which is what we expect to do,” he said.

Urquhart added that what happened in Dallas could happen just about anywhere.

“What happened in Dallas is pretty much unavoidable,” he said. “If somebody wants to kill you, they’re going to figure out a way to do it.”

Around the same time the Dallas gunman began shooting, Seattle police kept Black Lives Matter demonstrators from marching onto the freeway.

But the shooting in Texas spurred the Seattle Police Officer’s Guild (SPOG) to request help from the upper brass for local cops.

“My message to my members on the street is a phone call I had with the deputy chief earlier tonight, urging double-up cars so that officers have double-up protection in a police car,” said Ron Smith with the SPOG.

By Friday morning, SPD squad cars were seen leaving local precincts with a second officer riding shotgun.

But Urquhart said his office doesn’t have enough resources to do the same.

“I briefly considered that last night, the problem is I can’t do that,” he said. “I don’t have the resources to do that, my budget gets cut every year. I could double up officers but that would put the public at risk.”

Meanwhile, the SPOG is reminding cops to keep a watch over their shoulders and keep a sharp lookout for everyone else.

“I need my members to be safe and I need them to have their heads on a swivel and I need them to go home to their families at the end of the night,” Smith said.