By Kiara Doyal, The Seattle Medium
Following the success of the dual dispatch pilot, which simultaneously paired and dispatched behavioral help responders and Seattle Police Department officers from the 911 center, launched last October, Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell recently announced a proposal to expand the Community Assisted Response and Engagement (CARE) program to a citywide initiative, by hiring additional behavioral help responders.
Data from the pilot has shown through hundreds of emergency dispatch calls that CARE responders were able to safely assist community members in need and freed up police resources for higher priority calls.
“Since we launched this innovative public safety pilot, the CARE responder team has done outstanding work to both help people in need and to free up police officers to respond to the calls where they’re needed most. That’s why we are announcing our plan to expand CARE to answer calls citywide, seven days a week,” says Harrell. “We are creating a new paradigm in public safety, this expansion plan means people in every neighborhood in our city will have an array of responders to make the biggest difference based on their needs.”
The expansion plan calls for hiring an additional 18 responders and 3 supervisors in the coming months, as well as immediately extending the current service area from Downtown, SODO, and the Chinatown-International District to additional neighborhoods ranging from Capitol Hill to the Montlake area. This coverage will align with the Seattle Police Department (SPD) West and East precincts.
As part of the expansion plan, the CARE department will launch new partnerships with Seattle University, the University of Washington (UW), and others.
“Seattle is leading the way nationally in developing alternatives to traditional policing for situations where that traditional model is not what is called for,” says Seattle University President Eduardo Peñalver. “We are proud to be doing our part to support this work through the Seattle University Crime and Justice Research Center and its distinguished faculty as well as its student researchers. Seattle University applauds Mayor Harrell and Acting Chief Smith for their innovative and progressive work in conceiving and rolling out the CARE team.”
“Expansion of the Seattle CARE program is an important step forward for the city to continue to re-imagine the crisis response landscape. It will help our first responders focus their energy where it’s most needed and it will help our communities to feel more supported,” says Jennifer Stuber, UW School of Social Work Associate Professor.
In addition to the Citywide CARE expansion, Harrell also announced that Amy Smith, who is currently the CARE Acting Chief, will serve as the department’s permanent Chief, upon approval by the Seattle City Council.
“I commend Mayor Harrell and the Seattle City Council for sharing a vision to establish three co-equal departments of first responders, led by three significant voices in one collaborative conversation,” says Smith. “Since the launch of our responder pilot, it has been clear that the effectiveness of our public safety response relies on the strength of relationships and mutual trust. Our integration and partnerships with community and nonprofit organizations are both significant and vital because the objective is not just to provide the best first response to a 9-1-1 call, but then to swiftly help someone onto whatever rehabilitative or supportive path they need.”
Since launching last fall, the CARE team safely responded to over 500 dispatch calls, with an average response time of less than ten minutes and an average time on scene of 39 minutes.
“We can’t succeed in public safety if we don’t also succeed in public health, and our CARE Team is central to that mission,” says Councilmember Bob Kettle, Chair of the Council’s Public Safety Committee. “When we create a more diversified and targeted response to 911 calls, we create a more efficient and effective response system that resolves emergencies faster. That’s life-saving work. In every neighborhood I go to, I hear questions from people asking when CARE will be expanded to their neighborhood. I’m proud to say the work has begun.”
The phased expansion, based on an analysis of 911 call volume and requests, targets this fall for expansion into North Seattle, followed by South and Southwest Seattle by the end of 2024. The CARE department will continue to develop partnerships and share information with diverse response programs in other cities, as it is increasingly recognized as a national leader in this work.
“The Seattle Police Department is grateful for the expansion of CARE. They are a great resource to our department and the community we serve,” says Sue Rahr, Seattle Interim Chief of Police. “Our West Precinct officers have formed strong partnerships with CARE and often call for their assistance, even when not initially co-dispatched. We share mutual respect and look forward to expanded opportunities to collaborate. Particularly with our current staffing crisis, officers appreciate the CARE Team and the assistance they provide.”
