Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell announced Wednesday the launch of a pilot program to respond to behavioural health crises alongside fire and police chiefs.
The Community Assisted Response and Engagement dual dispatch programme will see six staffers respond alongside police to low-acuity calls in downtown Seattle from 11am to 11pm.
The goal is to reduce the stress on police and firefighters who respond to many behavioural health calls, officials said.
“Oftentimes, we don’t need a badge, we need people who are trained and skilled,” Harrell said at a news conference.
“This pilot will not change our systems overnight, but it is another tool to promote safety and an important step forward.”
The programme, led by Amy Smith, has been preparing to launch for about a month after Harrell approved $6 million in funding last month.
Officers will respond to non-violent, non-medical welfare checks, with the goal of the CARE team responding alongside SPD officers, with both units dispatched at the same time. After arriving at the scene and ensuring it is safe, officers will be able to respond to other calls while the CARE responders provide services.
The six workers all have backgrounds in behavioural health and are trained in crisis prevention, de-escalation, first aid and Narcan administration. They are also equipped with food, water and socks to distribute to those in need.
Other pilot programmes in the region include Health One, a mobile crisis response team run by the Seattle Fire Department, and two outreach programmes run by King County Metro and Sound Transit.
A new crisis line, 988 – designed as a mental health alternative to 911 – was launched last year for people in crisis to call and get immediate help.
The Seattle Police Department already has a small crisis response team that responds specifically to mental and behavioural health calls. An estimated 50% of officers are also certified in crisis intervention training to de-escalate and better serve people in crisis.
Still, it’s not enough, officials say.
“We can have three times the number of mental health professionals and [social workers] in this city and we’d still be barely keeping up,” Smith said.
“That’s where we are in a state of crisis,” she said, pointing to overburdened and understaffed programs.
According to officials, there have been 2,686 person-down calls and 5,533 wellness and welfare check calls so far this year.
Officials expect the pilot programme to be evaluated in the coming months with the help of researchers from Seattle University.
