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Seattle City Council earmarks $10.4M for ‘Community Safety Capacity Building’ — without police

The Seattle City Council Monday unanimously approved a $10.4 million Community Safety Capacity Building spending plan that officials hope will help fund organizations “building community safety from the ground up to end violence and reduce crime in Seattle neighborhoods.”

“Time and again, we’ve heard from our constituents that the response to poverty, behavioral health crisis, and homelessness shouldn’t be an armed police officer, but instead better resources and community-led programs that address these core needs. The fourteen members of the National Commission on Covid-19 and Criminal Justice, including interim SPD Chief Diaz, recommend exactly this kind of investment in anti-violence strategies to combat increased violence and property offenses in cities across the country, including in Seattle,” Lisa Herbold, chair of the council’s Public Safety and Human Services Committee, said about the approved bill.

The legislation authorizes the Human Services Department to award $10.4 million for organizations “that provide community-led public safety initiatives.”

A request for Proposals (RFP) has been issued with applications due by Friday, April 9. Priority will be given to Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Pacific Islander, and Immigrant and Refugee-led community groups, as they are most impacted by racism, systems of oppression, and harm from violence and the criminal legal system.

The approval comes as Seattle officials have increasingly sought alternatives to policing including a new $30 million participatory budgeting process hoped to spur new spending on social programs, community health, and economic investment.

Meanwhile, opposition to the so-called “defund” movement appears likely to be a centerpiece in this year’s labor battle as the city tries to forge a new contract with the Seattle Police Officers Guild.

 

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Michael Calkins
3 years ago

I hope this makes a measurable difference for Seattle and raises up people who have needed help for a long time.

slider292
slider292
3 years ago

Don’t hold your breath…

CapHillResident
CapHillResident
3 years ago

It would be great to know how the city plans to keep these organizations accountable … how will we know if they’re making a material difference for the money they’re spending? Who is watching?

Council Watcher
Council Watcher
3 years ago

No one is watching… No one will be held accountable for lack of results just as has been done in the past. Most of the money will go to salaries of administrators and project managers and lets not forget the endless research and studies on how to best utilize the funds, with only about 20% of the funds actually being used for the people that actually NEED the resources. Its been the Seattle way of doing things for years…. Lets do what so many other cities have done, (and failed at) with the hopes that “somehow, it will be different here” The homeless “industrial” complex is big business on the west coast. Lots of money to be made “helping those that need it most” when there is never anyone held to task.

RWK
RWK
3 years ago

One glaring example of the lack of nonprofit accountability is the current situation with outreach to the homeless. Since the City Council squashed the Navigation Team, this responsibility has been outsourced to nonprofits, with oversight by staff from the Human Services Department. I have been told by someone from that staff that there is NO accountability for the work that the nonprofits are supposedly doing, and this certainly shows by the lack of progress in getting people off our streets and into housing.

John Jensen
John Jensen
3 years ago

Maybe community-led organizations will help to some extent, but I feel the government itself needs to provide an alternative to a police response when there are calls relating to people in crisis.

Is there anything being done to build up a new public safety institution that doesn’t rely on contracting out these responses to groups outside of the government?