Yesterday, Seattle was the subject of the Wall Street Journal’s editorial for its failure to reform policing while endangering poor and minority communities.

Based on the recent federal hearing on the consent decree between the City of Seattle and the Department of Justice, the editorial board explained the simple facts: Seattle cut and demonized the police department and now crime has gone up and responses from public safety officers has gone down. And those who pay the steepest price are the already underserved communities.

The federal monitor for the decree, Antonio Oftelie, made it clear that not only were the training and systems improvements needed to provide safer policing stalled due to cuts, but that “essentially there is no community policing happening in Seattle.”

How can we make progress righting the historical disadvantages of communities of color when we can’t provide them basic safety?

Federal Judge James Robart said, “The city and the mayor and other elected officials and the City Council need to be constructive, not destructive to progress.”

We can’t build a more inclusive future with city leaders that only offer to tear things down.