About the CARE Department

Overview

The Community Assisted Response and Engagement (CARE) Department is Seattle’s third branch of public safety, alongside the Seattle Police Department (SPD) and the Seattle Fire Department (SFD). It was established in October 2023 under former Mayor Bruce Harrell.

The CARE Department operates the city's 911 Communications Center and Community Crisis Responders (CCRs). Its mission is to send the best first response to each emergency so that underlying needs are addressed, leading to a stronger, safer Seattle.

History

Conversations about further diversifying Seattle's emergency response system accelerated among city leaders in 2020.

In 2021, City Council voted to move the 911 Communications Center out of SPD and into a new, civilian-led call center called the Community Safety and Communications Center (CSCC).

In 2023, the CSCC became the Seattle CARE Department, which was launched as a pilot under former Mayor Bruce Harrell. It housed not only the civilian-led call center, but a six-person team of mental health professionals who dispatched with police officers to crisis calls in the Downtown area: Seattle's very first CCRs.

Following the success of the pilot, the CCR team — commonly called "the CARE team" — was expanded throughout 2024 and 2025 to serve neighborhoods all over Seattle.

In 2025, the City reached an agreement with the Seattle Police Officers Guild (SPOG) which allows CCRs to dispatch without police officers to certain calls without known dangers. (You can learn more about that on our FAQ page.)

Today, the CARE Department's 911 Communications Center dispatches both CCRs and police officers directly, coordinating the best response to each emergency in collaboration with SFD and other City departments.

Values

The CARE department is committed to the shared values of collaboration, adaptability, responsibility, and empathy:

Collaboration

• We believe that a collaborative and coordinated approach with Police, Fire & EMS services is essential to holistically meet the needs of community members.
• We are committed to a robust and transparent environment, sharing and considering a diversity of perspectives and ideas both internally and externally.

Adaptability

• We believe the community’s needs are complex and varied, requiring diverse skill sets, perspectives, and resources.
• We are adaptive and responsive to emerging trends.

Responsibility

• We believe prevention and diversion are essential to minimizing the need for coercion.
• We believe in balancing compassion with the broader needs of community.

Empathy

• We believe people can change and acknowledge that every life has equal value.
• We advocate for an unbiased system designed to heal and rehabilitate.

Questions? Email CARE_Info@seattle.gov.