Mayor to launch series of public safety forums to focus on Seattle’s ‘top issue’

The CARE car — Seattle leaders hope to grow the city’s still tiny Community Assisted Response and Engagement effort (Image: City of Seattle)

Seattle leaders including Mayor Bruce Harrell and the new members of the Seattle City Council have promised a new focus on public safety in the city. Thursday night, Harrell will begin an initiative to address crime and street disorder in Seattle with a series of forums including meetings in each of the Seattle Police Department’s five precincts where the mayor says he is inviting the public to hear “his vision for creating a safer Seattle.”

“Public safety is not just our first charter responsibility as a City, it is the top issue for our community today. I look forward to meeting with neighbors to hear their concerns and ideas, and to share the actions we are taking,” Harrell said in Tuesday’s announcement of the Thursday night forum.

It’s not clear why the Harrell administration provided only a few days notice on the forum. In-person attendance will require registration. The forum will also be streamed live by the city.

Harrell said this week’s session will be followed by additional forums held across the city, one in each of SPD’s five precincts including the East Precinct covering Capitol Hill and the Central District. Continue reading

King County adding treatment facilities, relaunching Seattle sobering center to take on fentanyl crisis

A fatal overdose in Cal Anderson (Image: CHS)

At 10:30 AM on Monday, the Seattle Fire Department responded to a reported overdose in a Boylston Ave apartment. The city’s fire chief says his department is responding to an average of 15 drug overdoses a day driven by a surge in fentanyl use.

Officials this week say King County is launching a new “multi-part strategy across five priority areas” to address the crisis beginning this year that will include a new residential treatment center plus five new Crisis Care Centers paid for by the $1.25 billion property levy approved by voters last year along with new initiatives to increase access to overdose antidotes and drug testing.

Previously shuttered services are also being restarted including the reopening of the county’s sobering center that provides a desperately needed facility for people suffering from addiction and heavy drug or alcohol use.

“Substance use disorder is complex, and there is not one single cause, nor one simple solution. That’s why King County is connecting people to treatment and lifesaving interventions that are proven to work, and clear paths to recovery for all,” King County Executive Dow Constantine said in a statement. “The increasingly dangerous drug supply across the state and nation, dominated by fentanyl, is contributing to a devastating increase in deaths. There is so much more to do, which is why King County is also working upstream to help prevent substance use disorder, inform and educate the community, elevate early intervention strategies, and provide services and treatment for anyone who needs it.”

The investments range from the new facilities to resources already put in place like the county’s buprenorphine prescription hotline that is staffed 24 hours a day to help people get access to the drug used as a safer replacement in the treatment of opioid dependence.

Five Priorities for Action to Prevent Overdoses in King County in 2024

Priority 1: Treatment and community-based, recovery-focused care for all. Continue reading

Capitol Hill not included in launch of Seattle’s ‘Dual dispatch’ pilot pairing social workers with police on low priority crisis and ‘welfare check’ calls

Seattle’s first team of CARE “Dual Dispatch” responders (Image: City of Seattle)

Seattle has launched its pilot pairing social workers with cops responding to day-to-day mental health and drug crisis 911 calls but, for now, there won’t be any “dual dispatch” responses on Capitol Hill.

Mayor Bruce Harrell announced the start of service this week in the $1.5 million pilot hoped to grow into a “third public safety department” joining police and firefighters in protecting the city with welfare checks and help for people suffering mental crisis and addiction.

Its initial focus will be downtown, “including the Chinatown-International District and SODO,” operating from 11 AM to 11 PM, “a schedule that matches where and when the most frequent calls related to mental health crisis occur,” the city says. Continue reading

Seattle Police begin city’s crackdown on public drug use with reported arrests, 13 ‘referred to the case managers’

The Seattle Police Department says it started enforcement of the city’s new public drug use law with “enforcement operations” in two familiar crime hot spots this weekend — Little Saigon and the downtown core around 3rd and Pine.

SPD Chief Adrian Diaz said the operations were underway in the areas ave 12th Ave and South Jackson in the International District, and on 2nd 3rd near Pike and Pine downtown.

“This is not about arresting people,” Diaz said. “We want to make sure that people are taking advantage of services. Right now, we know 13 people were referred to the case managers and that’s really what’s important to us.” Continue reading

‘A threat of harm assessment’ — Seattle mayor issues executive order hoped to guide police in enforcing city’s new public drug use law

A SPD officer responds to a reported overdose near the city’s central library (Image: SPD)

With the new law opening the way for a crackdown on public drug use in the city going into effect October 1st, Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell has issued his promised executive order his administration says will help ensure a more equal balance of treatment and diversion efforts as Seattle Police enforce the law by establishing “a threat of harm assessment.”

“We are committed to learning lessons from the past, holding traffickers, dealers, and those causing the most harm accountable, and helping people access treatment and care through diversion services,” Harrell said in the announcement.

CHS reported here on the passage of the new law opening the way for more arrests and prosecution of public use of drugs like meth and fentanyl while also earmarking millions in spending for diversion and treatment programs. While the crackdown could help address concerns about street disorder and overdoses, it also is expected to tax the city’s law enforcement and treatment resources while adding to the challenges already faced by those living with addiction and living homeless in the city.

The new order hinges on a so-called “threat of harm assessment.” Harrell says the executive order “provides direction to officers on how to enforce the ordinance, including examples of how public use and possession can be established and factors that will guide the threat of harm assessment.” Continue reading

Mayor says Seattle’s ‘third public safety department’ ready to join police and firefighters in protecting the city with ‘welfare checks’ and help for people suffering mental crisis

(Image: CHS)

A small, $1.5 million pilot program hoped to help be the start of bigger changes to how the city responds to mental health and drug crisis 911 calls is set to launch next month and Mayor Bruce Harrell is calling for more money so support the department behind the program next year.

Harrell marked the formation of what the administration is calling “Seattle’s third public safety department” saying the new organization will align “existing community-focused and non-police public safety investments and programs” as it joins the Seattle Police Department and Seattle Fire Department in protecting the city.

Community Assisted Response and Engagement — or, in the Harrell administration’s love for warm-sounding acronyms, CARE —  is part of the next step in what the city has been calling a “dual dispatch” approach to providing better social support and resources while freeing up police to handle higher priority calls.

Harrell says he is calling for a $6 million increase in the department’s funding as part of his proposed budget for next year.

The pilot launching in October will transition the former Community Safety and Communications Center to include the deployment of social workers and behavioral health specialists with Seattle Police Department officers for a limited set of circumstances when mental health expertise is needed and the situation is deemed safe for non-police intervention.

The launch comes amid increased criticism of Chief Adrian Diaz and skepticism around traditional policing in the city sparked by recent recorded comments from Seattle Police officers illustrating troubling biases and cynicism including the body cam video that captured a police union vice president making flippant remarks about Jaahnavi Kandula after she was struck and killed by a speeding police officer.

It also arrives as city leaders have signed the department up for a possible crackdown on public drug use in the city.

Backers hope CARE and efforts like “dual dispatch” will be the start of needed change and could help the city provide more substantial responses to the flood of so-called “welfare check” calls that come into 911 dispatchers from Capitol Hill and across the city every day.

Under the pilot, 911 calls dispatched involving someone suffering a mental crisis will include the specialists arriving with police at situations that don’t involve someone who is injured or sick, an “imminent danger,” weapons, or narcotics. Continue reading

From ‘may’ to ‘will’ — City Council wrestles over amendments to Seattle drug crackdown, treatment and diversion legislation

Critics say little of substance has changed in the legislation and no new spending will be part of the plan but the Seattle City Council appears ready to approve a revised bill opening the way for a Seattle Police crackdown on public drug use on Seattle streets while doing more to “emphasize diversion and health programs.”

Tuesday afternoon, the full council is prepared to vote on the bill after a roster of amendments were made last week as the legislation from Mayor Bruce Harrell’s office passed out of the council’s public safety committee. More amendments could further alter the bill in Tuesday’s vote.

Some opposition remains but it is not clear if citywide representative Teresa Mosqueda, District 2 representative Tammy Morales, and District 3 leader Kshama Sawant will be joined in expected votes against the bill.

“If today’s bill were to pass, it would embolden the reactionary Seattle Police Department to arrest and harass working people, especially people of color, on suspicion of public drug use,” Sawant said Tuesday morning in an email to supporters.

Opponents Tuesday will be armed with a report (PDF) from the Seattle Office for Civil Rights prepared at the request of Mosqueda. The SOCR briefing recommends against the bill, calling for the city fo focus on “housing first models,” and to “develop processes and policies to ensure people are not cycling through the criminal legal system and are provided with adequate treatment and care.”

“Drug prohibition has resulted in significant racial disparities both historically and currently, nationally and locally,” the memo reads. “It is likely this ordinance will continue that pattern.”

The briefing also says the proposed legislation will “will inevitably target people who are unhoused or unstably housed.”

The Public Safety and Human Services Committee approved the latest version of the legislation sponsored by councilmembers Lisa Herbold (West Seattle) and Andrew Lewis (downtown) last week after the Seattle City Council did not support an earlier proposal that members said lacked adequate plans and resources to provide support for treating addiction and providing options beyond incarceration. Continue reading

Mayor has $27M plan for Seattle drug crackdown, treatment and diversion investments including new ‘post overdose response team’

(Image: City of Seattle)

Seattle’s mayor is putting forward a $27 million plan that his office says will “emphasize diversion and health programs” while allowing the city to move forward with plans to crack down on public drug use.

Mayor Bruce Harrell unveiled the proposed legislation this week out of the “Fentanyl Systems Work Group” formed in June after the Seattle City Council did not support an earlier proposal that officials said lacked adequate plans and resources to provide support for treating addiction and providing options beyond incarceration.

“Success will not – and cannot – be measured on how many people cycle through jail; instead, our focus is on improving connections to lifesaving treatment and expanding program options to better meet the needs of those with substance use issues,” Harrell said in a statement announcing the proposed legislation.

The city council will now start to debate and shape the proposal that has become a priority issue in the city as drug overdoses have continued to soar amid a pitched battle in the city over public safety concerns. Continue reading

‘Fentanyl Systems Work Group’ — Seattle leaders dig in on plan to shape new public drug use legislation that includes resources for treatment and diversion

(Image: City of Seattle)

After rushed legislation that lacked adequate resources for treatment and diversion failed at the Seattle City Council, the city’s leaders are reshaping efforts to crack down on public drug use and enable the city attorney to prosecute drug use and possession on Seattle’s streets.

Monday, Mayor Bruce Harrell appointed a 24-member work group “uniting the four corners of Seattle government” – the Mayor’s Office, Seattle City Council, Seattle Municipal Court, and Seattle City Attorney – along with officials from law enforcement, diversion programs, and service provision, and “other subject matter experts to advance effective and sustainable solutions addressing illegal drug use in public spaces.”

The new Fentanyl Systems Work Group is hoped to shape a more robust plan after legislation to move forward on a plan focused on City Attorney Ann Davison’s prosecution duties fell short in a narrow city council vote over the plan’s lack of investment in city resources for treatment and diversion and a history of drug enforcement that has consistently and disproportionately targeted people of color and the homeless.

“We are committed to addressing the deadly public health crisis playing out on our streets, holding dealers accountable for trafficking illegal drugs harming our communities, and advancing innovative health strategies to help those struggling with substance use disorder,” Harrell said in the announcement. Continue reading

Out of the tussle over Seattle Council’s rejection of City Attorney’s crackdown bid, a plan ‘to expand addiction treatment, diversion, and address public drug use’

Andrew Lewis, the downtown representative on the City Council, is working quickly to back up his swing vote that helped sink City Attorney Ann Davison’s hopes of a public drug use crackdown in Seattle with a new plan that he says would address the lack of structure for treatment and diversion in the proposal voted down Tuesday.

CHS reported here on Tuesday’s vote by the council that narrowly rejected the bill that would have enabled the city attorney to prosecute drug use and possession on Seattle’s streets over the plan’s lack of investment in city resources for treatment and diversion and a history of drug enforcement that has consistently and disproportionately targeted people of color and the homeless.

Drug prosecution has been left to the county where the prosecutor’s office has said it does not currently have the resources to charge people arrested under the state’s new harsher penalties for low-level drug crimes.

Lewis moved quickly Wednesday to begin a push for a new plan “to expand addiction treatment, diversion, and address public drug use” in Seattle that he says would enable the city attorney to move forward under the new state drug law. Continue reading