♪♪
-Well. Good morning everybody. Thank you for being here.
I see some -- I see energy. I feel energy.
It feels pretty good. Feels pretty good.
We may have in the program,
Councilmember Lisa Herbold may join us.
And Councilmember Sara Nelson is here.
Thank you for being here, Councilmember Nelson.
She may join us and she may say a few words
as Chair of Public Safety.
I'm very inspired
by what we've been working on.
Our community,
by virtue of the fact that people in this room
and people standing with me,
our community, our community leaders,
those that are passionate about helping people,
caring about people have sort of played
a significant role into this.
In our CARE department's dual-dispatch pilot.
I use the word energy because
that's what's going to take a very --
Oh, nice seeing you.
I should have talked to this group here.
This group, I've got the who's who are helping
Seattle with me today.
Our mission as a city government
and my mission as a mayor is to help people.
It really boils down to be as simple as that.
To keep them safe.
This pilot we're going to go
into a little bit of granular detail
is an innovative way to discuss our approach.
And we'll discuss today how we'll better serve
our people here in Seattle, many of whom are in crisis.
Now to get to this pivotal pilot launch,
which is a foundational program
for our newest public safety department
known as the Community Assistance,
Response, and Engagement, or CARE, Department.
It took this kind of effort.
It was not a top down approach. It took this kind of effort.
And I'm patting my heart to suggest
that we wanted to demonstrate our values of caring for people,
for loving people, for helping people.
When people talked about a war on drugs
and having an over enforcement
kind of approach to trying to help people,
not in our administration, not for the city of Seattle.
In collaboration with our city departments, our community,
and a shared commitment to serve the better people of Seattle,
We are announcing this pilot.
Go ahead and have a seat.
We have chairs up, even up front, if you'd like them.
So our administration has been working feverishly, as you know,
to diversify our public safety response options since day one.
We've made it clear that we've seen in Seattle
and throughout this country situations
where police are called, firefighters are called,
which perhaps that is not the strongest skill
set for what we want to get done.
Often we don't need a gun and badge.
We need people trained and skilled at the kind of outreach
and kind of treatment that we want to see.
This dual-dispatch pilot is exactly that a positive step
as we embrace this new tool in our public safety tool kit.
Our chief Amy Smith, Acting Chief Amy Smith,
I have to put that on there for a while,
ill tell you more about some of the specifics of the program.
And she is indeed a leader.
I want to talk a little bit about the crisis responders
that we started off with in this pilot.
All of them have worked extensively at the county
or city levels in mobile crisis response,
and they know the system quite well.
Four of the five have master's levels education,
such as within the social work or education fields.
They come from five different
cultural backgrounds or nationalities
that are represented in this group.
Clearly diverse.
These respondents have experience
in behavioral health counseling and case management
in the field outreach and crisis responses,
crisis response.
Quite candidly, they've chosen
to do this kind of work
because of who they are.
I'm very proud to work with them.
They've had previous positions as health care authority
crisis response and proven strategy committee.
That's a mouthful. Let me try that one again.
Previous positions as health care authority crisis
response proven strategy committee coordinator,
crisis solution center, mobile crisis team manager,
social services specialist
at King County Behavioral Health Outreach Program
and community office supervisor
of Seattle Police Department.
You get what we're saying. These people are experienced.
So this pilot will put us to our test.
Can we do this kind of work?
Indeed I think the country are looking at this
kind of approach to modern-day policing.
I'm joined here with Chief Diaz and my firefighter chief,
and he's going to take this kind of collaborative effort.
You two are proven commodities, so to speak,
and I'm sure you welcome this kind of pilot.
I know because I asked you to be.
Uh.
[ Laughter ]
As we as I close and we listen to a few more speakers,
we're going to work with Seattle University to evaluate
this pilot using data, metrics, and methods to understand
the number of calls responded to CARE,
the experience of people
receiving a response from the CARE team,
and effect on added capacity for SFD,
the Seattle Fire Department.
You know our administration is committed to this.
We I talked about my charter responsibility
to keep people safe and to help people.
My budget that we proposed reflected a $26 million
proposed investment in CARE.
Our pilot reflects this commitment
to a brand new approach.
In closing, before I introduce,
I don't see Councilmember Herbal,
so we're going to go to Acting Chief Amy Smith
to say a few words.
Not only do you have community leaders around this.
You have people from the faith community.
We understand that the separation of church and state.
I know that all too well as an attorney.
But we're not trying to separate,
giving people hope and faith in something bigger
and better than themselves.
And in our administration, I am unashamedly partnering.
And we have a new -- We welcome a new --
It's going to be one of the most phenomenal leaders
in this state at Mount Zion Church.
Pastor Paris Lee Smith right here.
We want to welcome him to Seattle.
Welcome to Seattle.
[ Applause ]
And that is certainly not to the detriment
of many of my friends here
who are clergy and faith leaders.
And they know who they are.
And before I bring up Amy Smith,
there's one person I have to give a very, very special
and heartfelt thanks to.
And that is Darrell Powell.
Who stands over here. It's nothing that Darrell did.
[ Laughter ]
His son is Mishael Powell.
That one the Huskies' game single-handedly.
[ Laughter ]
-So where is he?
Thank you, Darrell. Raise your hand.
[ Applause ]
An 89-yard touchdown.
Darrell, I'm sure he was a proud papa on that day.
Thank you. Where's Lisa Daugaard?
We were texting each other during the --
[ Laughter ]
-Alright.
And with that, I present you, Acting Chief Amy Smith.
[ Applause ]
-You know, [Chuckles]
I actually made the comment
that this to me
feels like church
as I watch people assemble,
it really does.
If I were to design
my congregation, this is it.
Thank you, Mayor Harrell.
Thank you for everybody who's come out here.
I think you're going to hear from Sean and Tija and Kim,
and I thank them for, again the tireless effort.
Lots of intellect,
lots of heart, lots of skill
that has gone on for years
and years and years before I arrived.
I feel lucky to stand here
and be the messenger sometimes.
I'm just reflecting the tireless effort and commitment.
So on that point, a couple of weeks ago,
I found myself really tired one day.
This is interesting work.
It requires a lot of collaboration,
a lot of conversation, a lot of strategy,
and I appreciate that.
But it's also been a very heavy operational lift.
It's very technical work,
a lot of details, a lot of data.
And I was having one of those days
where I was like mired in my Excel book.
And it was getting late, and an e-mail showed up
and I noticed it was from Tija,
somebody that I had interacted with just a little bit,
but didn't know very well personally.
And I was intrigued.
And so I toggled from my trusty Excel book
to read her message.
And I think she has to forgive me now for sharing part of it,
because, you know.
So she first expressed real delight
at this vision that the Mayor had cast for the department.
And then she shared an experience
that she had had recently.
She said, "On my walk back home,
I noticed so many folks out just wandering,
mumbling, perhaps under the influence.
Beautiful evening, but a crushing scene.
I counted 14 people in the short walk.
It was alarming.
It was sad, frustrating. Fall and winter are ahead.
I think the very last thing one loses in life is hope."
Full stop.
"Many of those folks have lost hope.
The good thing is, one can find hope again.
What did Martin Luther King Jr. say?
'Only in the darkness can you see the stars.'
I am betting the CARE program equals stars."
And then she went on to write a bunch of other smart things
and I'm crying.
And then she ended,
"I have hope for Seattle as we face this head on.
We are a good bet. You are a good bet."
And with that, my heart was full.
My energy's high and I was off.
And I share that because it's another time
that a near stranger took time to remind me why I do what I do.
Why we are all in this, why it matters
and that we are in it together.
Feeling some of the same pain.
But also feeling just really positive.
Resolute that there is hope that we are collectively
smart enough, we're resourceful enough.
We're tenacious enough to make things much better
than they are.
So about five weeks ago,
I spoke to the public in this role for the first time
with this brand new team assembled behind me.
It was day three, you guys, of their employment.
I was like, "Just get dressed really fast.
There's going to be a thing. Just stand there and smile."
And they did.
And now it's been -- it's been a month
and I can tell you it's been really astonishing
to watch this group come together.
The adaptability, the flexibility,
the creativity, the conversation dialog,
really spirited good debate, learning community stuff.
And it's only augmented that optimism
I expressed a month ago.
Yesterday, I asked them each to share a word or two
about what they were feeling as they go out into the field.
This is what I got -- excited, hopeful,
relieved, appreciative,
curious, enthusiastic --
and my favorite -- ready to serve.
So I'm getting teased lately for saying
"the reality is" or "in reality,"
when I answer questions
and I know I need to diversify my turn of phrase.
But the reason I think I'm saying this is
because I find myself sort of uniquely positioned
close to an objective reality that is inconsistent
with a lot of the narrative out there.
I'm entrenched in real-time emergency calls.
I listen to them, I'm in a ton of data,
and I'm witnessing all the time really exemplary response
by police, by fire, by EMS,
and by secondary response teams,
by service providers, certainly in dispatch.
And I'm at the nexus of a lot of fierce advocacy,
and I love that.
Union reps are insisting people be acknowledged.
Elected officials are demanding
that their constituents are well served,
service providers are advocating for appropriate allocation
of resource, appropriate investment.
And then we've got school leaders reminding us
that to be a healthy kid,
you have to have basic safety, basic provision of safety.
I'm working with a mayor who is relentless in his pursuit
of what is both just and what is right.
And this is something I think about all the time,
that line between justice and mercy
and how a healthy community requires both.
In reality, we are all in this together.
This is our community, and I know that we know that
and that we own that.
And I thought last night,
about this time I was working in the space of foster adoption,
and I had a really wise boss.
I was struggling with a decision
that was going to impact a lot of kids coming into care.
And he looked at me and he said,
"Amy, just imagine those are your kids.
You'll know what to do."
That is so simple, isn't it?
Imagine you are designing for a person you love.
And then you go to work.
So thank you again all for being here.
Thank you for --
for being the stars in the darkness for me.
And again, let's go to work.
-Thank you, Chief.
[ Applause ]
Thank you, Chief.
We have a few speakers that play a role
sort of behind the scenes, if you will,
in helping develop this pilot.
So first we're going to hear from Kim Hendrickson,
the Board President, Co-Responder Outreach Alliance,
and some of the materials that we've provided
prior to this press conference.
You saw the role in training that Kim has done.
Kim is the director of the City of Poulsbo's
Housing, Health and Human Services Department
and Project Manager at the Poulsbo Fire CARES
and Central Kitsap Fire CARES organization.
She serves as Board President
of the Co-Responder Outreach Alliance, CROA.
Which gives her the opportunity
to support multidisciplinary teams that respond
to behavioral health related calls
for service across Washington State.
Indeed, an expert in this area.
I present Kim Hendrickson. Thank you, Kim.
[ Applause ]
-Good morning, everybody.
I really am the small-town girl
at this press conference today.
As the mayor just informed you,
I work for the little city of Poulsbo across the way.
I do manage some co-response programs.
And I'm very active in promoting
co-response in Washington State,
which for us just means
helping our 911 system
be more prepared to do effective and humane response
to behavioral health calls.
I'm so honored that Chief Smith
asked me to come and say
a few comments today.
I think the most useful thing I can do
is give you a little bit of outside perspective
about why this is so incredibly important.
Again, from my little city across the water,
this might look a little bit different
than it does to you here in Seattle.
I've been in this space working on these issues
around crisis response for around the last decade,
and something that I've noticed
since I've been working in this area --
There's been a hope, an assumption,
maybe even a presupposition
that there are two separate worlds out there --
a behavioral health world
run by behavioral health agencies,
and a 911 world where police and fire and dispatchers respond
to emergency public safety and health situations.
That same hope, I guess, for a separation,
a clean distinction between what behavioral health does
and what 911 does
continues in full force today.
We have a lot of wonderful people
involved in the launch of the 988 system.
And again, that comes with the hope
that these two systems are distinct.
988 and 911, behavioral health and first response.
It's not true.
The same people that are using our crisis lines, our 988 lines
are also using our 911 lines.
The same people that need a civilian response on Monday
desperately need the fire service on Tuesday,
because it's a different condition
that's presenting itself.
The more we bifurcate these systems,
the less we are serving the most vulnerable people in our city
and our state and our nation
that desperately need the sort of collaboration,
the sort of creative thinking, the same sort of cross sector
911,988, behavioral health, first response
that I think the CARE program represents.
Here's my perspective from across the water in Poulsbo.
The city of Seattle has been a leader
in understanding the importance
of 911 and behavioral health response.
Okay. Seattle launched the LEAD program many years ago.
Seattle launched the Crisis Response Unit
in the Seattle Police Department,
which is a model around the country
for effective 911 response.
Seattle launched Health One.
I love Health One.
Sorry, Chief. I love your program, too.
[ Laughter ]
Thank you.
These are national programs
that are making an influence across the country.
And now your largest 911 center in the state
is launching a pilot program dispatched by 911
to help behavioral health response.
You have so much to be proud of
and so much to impress people around the state
that are looking to you for an example.
If you permit me,
the small town person,
just a couple of quick pieces of advice
as you launch onto this pilot,
which is so important for so many people in Seattle
and in the state of Washington.
One, and it's something that Chief Smith is already doing.
Collaborate.
This team will be successful if it works with the MCOT teams,
the DCRs, the fire department,
the police department, LEAD.
It doesn't matter.
The collaboration and the breaking down of silos
will make this work.
And second, support this team.
You are all going to be out there doing the most difficult,
the most gut wrenching.
And sometimes, oftentimes when the resources
aren't available to connect people
to the most heartbreaking work.
Moderate your expectations on this team
and listen to them when they tell you what's needed.
So I wish you luck.
I'm so proud to be a part of this launch.
We'll be watching from across the water.
Thank you.
[ Applause ]
-Thank you, Kim. And now that's coming
from an expert in this field, By the way,
Thank you very much for your leadership and your training.
Very proud to introduce the next speaker,
Sean Blackwell.
Sean, I think his first day
joining the city payroll is today.
[ Laughter ] -And I couldn't be more proud.
A little background about Sean.
He's spent pretty much a professional career
facilitating criminal justice reform and violence prevention
at all levels -- federal, state, and community levels.
He previously worked as a licensed
mental health professional in Seattle,
King County and South Puget Sound
before joining the LEAD project management team.
He's not going far, Lisa.
He's still part of your team, so to speak.
But in all seriousness,
he earned a Bachelor of Social Work
from the University of Illinois at Springfield,
graduating summa cum laude
and a Master of Social Work from the University of Chicago
Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy and Practice.
And I'm just going to say this in closing.
That this is the kind of talent and leadership we need.
I've bragged about our teammates here
that are going to do this work.
And now that Sean is -- is coming aboard,
it's this type of commitment to excellence
that I hope we're demonstrating to you
in the seriousness of this program.
So I present to you Sean Blackwell.
[ Applause ]
-Hello everyone. My name is Sean Blackwell.
I'm going to be coming on as the Communications Officer.
So I'm going to be working with a lot of folks here
in the media.
And I'm also going to be
communicating and coordinating
with folks in the community moving forward.
I want to thank you, Mayor, for your leadership,
your vision, and your demonstrated commitment
to addressing the city's pressing public safety
and health challenges in such an innovative
and pragmatic way during a really important moment
when when the community is desperately
looking for solutions.
Under your leadership,
this city is clearly
headed in the right direction.
I think we can all see that and feel it.
I also want to thank you, Chief Smith,
for the opportunity to serve alongside you
and this outstanding team that you've brought together
that the mayor spoke about earlier.
I sincerely look forward to working hard
to build interagency bridges,
break down silos with the support
of the Council and the mayor's office.
And to co-facilitate a coordinated,
community assisted response to the public safety
and public health challenges
we collectively face as a community --
One Seattle.
I also want to thank Chief Diaz and Chief Scoggins
for their leadership, for their flexibility
and demonstrated commitment to opening and maintaining
channels of communication across departments
and to collaborate.
I also want to thank
Councilmember Andrew Lewis
and Councilmember Herbold for their leadership in this.
And I look forward to working with all of you guys
and, you know, opening channels of communication
co-facilitating your interest back to decision makers.
That's why I think I was brought to this position.
So it's an honor and a pleasure to serve.
Thank you. -Thank you, Sean.
[ Applause ]
Thank you, Sean.
Our last speaker before we do a little Q&A is Tija Petrovich.
What's clear,
and we've done a few press events together,
is we need community advocates
and residents involved in what we're trying to do,
particularly in some of the areas
we're starting the pilot in.
Tija is the chair
of the Pioneer Square Community Council.
She's a former owner of Seattle Fitness,
a gym in Pioneer Square.
The Pioneer Square Residents Council
provides leadership advice
and input on city, county, and state policies and promotes
initiatives that highlight the unique character
and culture of Pioneer Square.
So we're very pleased to have Tija's leadership
and development in this program.
Tija, where are you? -I'm behind you.
-Oh, there you are.
[ Laughter ]
-Thank you.
[ Applause ]
-Thank you, Mayor Harrell,
for the opportunity to speak today.
Everyone here, my name is Tija.
I've lived in Pioneer Square. -Wait a minute.
-Yeah, I know, I know. Come back, say it.
-Every time I said "Tija." -Say it, Tija.
-There's a "J" in there.
-There is a "J." -So, okay. I apologize Tija.
-You're right, There's a "J" in there.
-I have a niece named Tia too, so.
-I hope you have a niece named Tia
because I'm going to be googling it.
[ Laughter ]
So I've lived in Pioneer Square for 30 years,
about half of my life.
My perspective, of course, comes from where I live,
my community experiences, and my own life experiences.
I'm 62 years old, and I was born before 911.
That was 55 years ago when 911 was invented.
And it was something so ingenious in that day
and growing ever since.
It was simple --
Physical problems --
You got an EMT or a firefighter.
Crime --
a police officer answered.
Fire --
firefighter.
But what about a mental health crisis?
That wasn't really addressed.
To go deeper, if I book an appointment
with a mental health professional today,
I don't expect to go in, open the door
and see the chief staring at me to talk to me about my troubles.
I don't expect a police officer there.
I don't expect a firefighter there.
I expect someone that looks a little like me, a lot smarter,
and someone that has great tools and time,
a moment to spend with me in that crisis or need.
Mental health crises requires mental health professionals,
plain and simple.
Adding mental health professionals professionals
to 911 dispatch -- It just makes sense.
Moving through the pandemic, it was obvious to me
that our mental health can be very fragile.
Increased anxiety, depression, substance abuse,
increased suicides, for those people in tough shape,
the pandemic pushed them to extreme situations.
We have a desperate need for mental health professionals
and support, especially in these times of crisis.
So today is an amazing day for 911 Seattle.
CARE is a new and innovative tool for our people.
It's more than just a tool.
It's like we got a whole new workshop.
That's how I view it.
We'll be bringing mental health options
and responses to our streets, our homes and our shared spaces.
It's an alternative and additional service
in times of trauma, crisis, distress.
It's also a chance to build shared experiences
and cooperate between teams, so fire, EMT, police.
It's a valuable community resource.
I'm so proud of our city
and for our mayor for pushing for this funding
and building out of the CARE team.
This is Seattle. This is what we do.
This is why we're so innovative.
To the CARE team.
You are the new public face safety option and service.
You are the mental health first responders.
You're the idea that became
a well-thought-out plan of professional response
to certain types of crises in our streets,
our homes, and again, our neighborhoods.
I believe many of you will become someone's light,
someone's superhero.
You can be their hope in a dark moment.
Many of your calls will be in people's darkest moments.
Since we talked about dark moments
and you shared my e-mail, may I?
-Oh.
-Chief Smith, may I address your people?
-Please. -Sean. You too.
Okay, this is what I mean.
Take your hand. Ball it up.
Go ahead. Put it up. Try to look through that.
Oh, community audience participation.
This is great. [ Laughter ]
Try to look through that and you see darkness.
Now, if you just open your fingers a bit.
What do you see?
-All: Light. -Light. Oh, okay.
In people's darkest moments,
that crack, that opportunity is you.
See that light. Be that light for people.
Alright?
Be safe out there. Take care.
And welcome to Seattle.
[ Applause ]
-Thank you, Tija.
Before we take Q&A,
I'm going to ask Chief Smith once again
to just describe a little bit more
about what this specific pilot is going to do.
And she doesn't know I was going to ask her that.
And the last thing before she does that,
I want to say this to members of the community,
Tija and others.
I did a press conference one time.
I can't remember the subject matter at the particular time
some time ago, and I had many of you there.
And they didn't have a speaking role,
but they were there, perhaps to support the vision
that we're trying to do.
One thing we know in our community.
Number one, you have to be present.
You have to make your presence known.
And what's happening in Seattle,
when I talk about a racial divide
and I talk about bringing together communities
in One Seattle in an unprecedented level,
let me make that clear,
because we're pretty liberal here in Seattle.
We have pretty -- We're pretty open minded.
But we are we are not even scratching the surface
together in terms of what we can do as a community.
That's what this pilot represents.
And their presence here, many of whom I've known
for my entire life,
eight, nine, ten years old.
In fact, you and I, we got bused together
during the mandatory bussing in the eighth grade.
We were happy... -In the seventh.
-In the seventh grade, in the Central district.
We were happy, and then we realized we had to get bused.
They have been advocates in this community
for decades and decades.
Their presence here and their work in developing
and supporting this program are going to be incredible.
When I talk about One Seattle,
I'm talking about breaking the barriers that this city,
unfortunately has had,
and every city in this country has had.
That's the special stuff here in Seattle we're trying to do.
And with that on this pilot,
which brings together all of our values,
whether it's logical treatment,
mental health, spiritual,
self esteem, building, whatever these components are,
that's what we're trying to do.
And so, Amy, Chief Smith,
can you talk a little bit more about the specific pilot
and then we'll address a few questions.
-Sure, absolutely. -Thank you.
-Want me to get out ahead of the questions
I see what's happening. -Yes.
-Yeah. [ Laughter ]
-So I will start by acknowledging
Assistant Chief Dan Nelson.
Will you raise your hand?
So Dan Nelson
and then Doctor Jacque Helfgott.
Raise your hand. Come on.
So the year was 2010,
and Dan Nelson -- you were patrol, right?
You were an officer, yes --
was the first co-responder here in Seattle.
So he went out with a mental health professional,
Justin, Doctor Helfgott was responsible
for the initial evaluation for getting the funding.
It was a BJA grant.
Is that right?
Yeah. That funded this.
And it was a really interesting
idea at the time.
And many years have passed now.
And so I'm always very defensive.
Even when we say pilot,
I say I'm testing and proofing a thing
that is another step forward in diversified response.
But this is not new.
We've done it well for a long time
and SPD is known nationally.
I just got back from two conferences,
very well known for innovation
in policing and good community engagement.
So what the dual-dispatch pilot
does is it basically takes
this idea of co-response
that you have mental health
professionals,
in this case, I'm talking about
two behavioral health
specialists.
So some are MHPs
by the definition.
Others are -- They have forensic psych backgrounds,
criminal justice, social work, education.
I'm trying to bring all these disciplines together.
They all have crisis response experience.
We have three teams of two.
And they will be shifting
in their own vehicles.
Civilian vehicle.
You can see it.
It's parked out front of
the Municipal tower right now.
There are three vehicles.
But one's all wrapped and it looks very cool.
And so they have their own vehicle.
They have -- It looks very much like the mobile crisis team.
As far as the gear goes.
They have radio, they are trained,
and then they will be dispatched at the same time
as police to low acuity calls,
which just means that we have tested and proofed in 911
to be sure that there is not threat of violence.
And that this is not
a medical emergency.
So in 911, once we know
there's a medical aspect,
it goes right to the fire alarm center
and then fire takes over
and sometimes invokes Health One.
So initially we're going to shift
from 11 in the morning, 12 hours, until 2300.
That's how I talk now, you guys, until 11:00 p.m.
And the reason we're doing it that way,
that's a little deviation from what council initially thought.
But I've said I'm trying to cover more calls.
And currently, police co-response,
CRT, and Health One.
They start in the morning
about 7:00 a.m. and wrap up
around the dinner hour.
And I know that the crisis calls
tend to actually escalate
and get worse until about 2300.
So that's where we're going to start.
We're following the downtown activation plan zone boundaries,
which is basically south of Denny through SoDo.
It's primarily west of I-5.
And I know that that's not enough area,
but I'm very defensive that
I only have three teams here,
and we have a lot of calls
to get to.
Well, the call types --
It's funny how interested
people are in 911 call types now.
The call types are person down and welfare check.
And really what that means is it looks like somebody
is not doing well.
And often I listen to these calls.
People call in and just say,
"He doesn't seem to be okay,"
or somebody's, you know,
on the sidewalk crying.
It's always encouraging to me
to hear people call 911
not wanting to invoke police,
not wanting to be punitive,
but knowing somebody needs help.
And so those are the calls that we're trying to respond to.
They're called priority three generally.
And then welfare check is we're not sure what's going on.
You know, something that doesn't require forced entry.
We don't do any enforcement this team.
But somebody needs to be checked on.
We're not quite sure.
So those are the two call types initially.
It could be that we expand.
That's what's happened in Albuquerque,
I talk about a lot, Durham.
There are about 75 pilots in this country,
but I'm holding that line that we're not going to expand
until we start to test and prove this concept,
until police and fire are telling me that it's useful
and that we're responding to the types of calls
that really relieve the burden on the system.
So, Mayor, did I do it?
-You did. -Alright.
-You knocked it out of the park. Boom.
-Before I take some Q&A, I want to again
thank Councilmember Lewis for being here
and Councilmember Nelson for being here.
I don't see any other council members here.
Councilmember Herbold was trying to be here to say a few words,
but we hope she's safe wherever she is.
So with that, we'll take some Q&A.
Jamie, may I ask you to help coordinate this, please?
Yes.
-Okay. Erica.
[ Indistinct ]
-Alright. Those are -- Those are my favorite kind.
[ Laughter ]
-You talked about the types of calls
you're are going to be responding to.
-Yes.
- So I'm just trying to be clear.
So there's only --
There aren't that many
person-down priority three calls.
So are you also talking about priority two
which are the more urgent calls.
-Well, that's an interesting question and I'm glad you asked.
So what's happened with these person-down two calls
is that we don't have anybody to respond
to person-down three generally.
We just don't get to them.
So what they're doing in 911
is they're actually sort of up coding
to make sure that somebody does go out.
So when you analyze the data, I mean, year to date,
if you look at down two and down three,
I think we're about 5,500 calls.
And so we're rolling out new protocols to go,
okay, if we had a CARE team,
if we had another response, what would be coded three?
So there are thousands of calls.
It just -- It doesn't look that way in the data, yet.
But I'm glad you asked. Yeah.
Because it's interesting.
-And while you're up there. Just one other question.
-Yeah. That's allowed, right?
-On the question of your title. -Yeah.
It's been surprisingly, to me anyway, controversial.
-Yeah. Right. Yeah.
-Can you -- Can you talk about
why -- why "Chief" as opposed to "Director."
-Yeah. I got asked about this in the budget hearing.
And again I like the question
because I care so much about language
and have tried to be very thoughtful in this program,
to not invoke ideas that I don't think are productive
or that misguide the public.
I'm very pro community-based language.
And so I shared with the council that I had advocated
to not say "civilian assisted" because it's paramilitary,
but to say community-assisted for that reason,
because we're moving in this direction.
This is a community response.
Mayor Harrell felt strongly
that if you want to create
a third public safety department.
So, you know, in the beginning we had police, right,
like 1838 or something.
Only police --
I think that might be -- somebody check me --
But we had that and there was a police chief
and a whole situation.
And then later decades go by
and then we have fire
and we continue to evolve societally.
If you're going to add truly a third public safety department
that theoretically could respond to half of the calls
at a future state if you were to staff up that way.
That's what the data looks like.
That half don't require fire, medical transport, or police.
And so if you really want to say this is of equal importance
and you want to establish it in the same way,
I also shared, I kind of made fun of myself.
That I was so tripped up on it
because I'm uncomfortable with titles.
I don't like being called Doctor Smith.
I don't like, I mean, even Miss Smith,
I like being called Amy.
And but I shared that I have often been COO, CDO.
I've been chief a lot of things in my career.
And so I think it's an interesting conversation
that we don't recognize that that term is normalized.
And I've heard from 911,
it was meaningful to them
because they used to be part of police.
They feel like first responders.
They are first responders in Washington State.
But that's not always understood.
And it was meaningful to say, no, you are first responders.
And you have somebody who is a significant leader
in the space of public safety.
At the end of the day, I defer to the --
to the group, to you, sir.
[ Laughter ]
-I've got to clap on that answer.
[ Applause ]
-Hi. Angela Castañeda.
I'm the director of Beacon Business Alliance
and co-founder member of Central Southeast Seattle.
We are a collective of -- a team of people
serving small business, BIPOC,
and immigrant-family owned businesses in southeast Seattle,
Beacon Hill to Rainier Beach.
And I know, thinking of this as One Seattle,
we have many neighborhoods.
And I just -- I'm concerned about being --
I know that we're excited about what's happening here,
and we'd love to have more communication
and maybe be at the table in a way that we can understand,
because this is, as we all know,
a people-based crisis, not a place-based crisis.
So can we --
My question was,
how could we be at the table in conversation to understand
how that is being served, the people based?
-Chief Smith, would you?
-Yeah, yeah. Nice to meet you.
And you are invited to the table.
Yeah. So in reality,
this has come into being so fast.
I just did it again, in reality.
It's only the last few months.
Sean Blackwell has arrived today.
I am very trained and a big believer
in community-driven design,
Not just community based, but driven,
that folks in the community know
best what the community needs,
how they define health and safety.
And so it's absolutely vital.
We need to expand
and we need to expand responsibly.
But the best thing, I mean, listen,
you really should just e-mail me.
I keep advertising my e-mail,
but yeah, so that we can have a conversation right away.
Anybody who has asked me to speak or to show up,
I go immediately.
People see me disappear and that's why.
So thank you for being here. And, yes.
-Thank you.
[ Applause ]
-Amy, Jeremy, and Jonathan
then, Kate,
try and help me remember that order.
Trying to stick with reporters right now.
-Thank you.
I just want a little more logistical information.
Like, you guys are in an office at the Municipal Tower.
You're not at the 911 dispatch center.
You're hearing from them, they're contacting you,
you're getting in your vehicle, you're going out.
You're meeting a police officer at the scene.
Can you just take us through it. And when are these --
When are these calls actually?
Are you already doing these calls
or what's the actual timeline to start doing them?
-Yeah, sure. Yeah.
They are based at the Municipal Tower.
And that's so that they have street level exit.
So there's three parking spots for the vehicles.
They say CARE exempt parking, which I find hilarious.
I don't know why people don't think that's funny.
But it's so they can exit quickly.
And because we are initially working downtown.
So that's why they're there.
They're at 911 often
because we're thinking about
how to use this sort of social work ethos
to be able to inform practice in 911,
culturally responsive practice,
you know, just peer support, things like that.
So it's a little bit challenging
logistically to go back and forth,
but we will figure out how to do that.
Right now what they've been doing
is they've been doing ride alongs
and they've been basically shadowing first response
and testing MDTs,
some of the technical aspects of it.
Police, again, Assistant Chief Nelson
helped with this right on down the chain.
They helped to articulate the protocols
of how the officers behave at the scene.
And then we worked on our side of it,
how we behave at the scene.
In reality, there's a lot more improvization
than people realize.
It's not good practice to have a very strict protocol.
"Take three steps forward and," that's not what this is.
This is a human-centered response.
And when I was out on ride alongs with police,
it was -- it's fascinating to watch.
You know, it's just like a really good marriage
that people really understand where they fit,
when somebody should step forward.
I have seen these --
Their CIT-trained officers absolutely know to recess,
that they're not needed,
and the social workers come forward.
In fact, sometimes I've gone forward too
because I've recognized, oh, I've got this mom energy
or I'm from this neighborhood,
and I could be useful in this conversation.
And so it will look similar to that.
Initially the officers, again, they're in a car,
our MHPs are in a car,
they need to clear the scene first.
And ironically, I'm the one insisting on that.
You know, folks were assuming
that I would be resistant to that idea.
But I just see in the little area where we are,
the threat of violence is much higher
than it might otherwise be in years gone by.
I think most of us understand that.
And so it's just a better scientific process
to say we're going to start out together,
we're going to see how this goes.
And if we never need to have the police stay,
if they're always just, you know,
blessing the practice of the MHPs,
they can continue, and they leave, then we'll know.
If that takes 30 days, then I will communicate that out
and we will articulate new policy and protocols.
So I think it's challenging for people right now that I --
That I'm not willing to forecast six months
from now exactly how it goes.
I'm willing to forecast 30 days.
-Jeremy.
-Chief Smith, can you speak a little bit
about what some of the options that this unit will have
when they do encounter somebody in crisis?
What will be at their fingertips?
What can they refer that person to?
-Yeah. I mean, unfortunately I don't --
People hope that I'm showing up with a secret set of resources,
and I don't have anything more
than what we already have in the system.
I'm very supportive of efforts at the county level
to have more places to take folks, more resources.
I will be a loud advocate, you know,
trying to amplify what's already being suggested
about medically supported recovery,
about places to stay.
We don't have -- During the day,
we don't have any place to take people.
So in reality, we really are just operating
the same way that MCT has been,
that Police CRT has been, Crisis Connections --
I see Michelle here -- is a major resource for us.
In fact, someone in Police CRT said,
"We hand these cards and fliers out like candy."
That that is the main thing
because they have a beautiful compendium
of services that is specific to certain types of people.
So if you're a juvenile,
they've got a whole catalog of things like that.
And as far as provision in the car,
there's a lot of variation in the field.
But generally, it's things that you would use for triage.
Right? So we're not doing serious medical things.
We have Narcan like every other team right now in Seattle.
Basic first aid, socks, snacks, you know, electrolytes.
It's things like that.
And then we will be really scientific.
If we find that there's a particular need
that's emerging, then if it exists in the field,
we'll form an alliance
and make sure we can leverage it.
Or if we have to buy our own stuff,
then that's what we'll do.
But yeah, I don't have any new stuff to offer folks.
-You've already sort of alluded to this already,
but these mental health situations,
the crisis could quickly escalate 0 to 60.
-Right?
-Sort of take us through what that process
is in responding to a worst-case scenario.
And how are your workers prepared for personal threats?
-Yeah, it's a good question.
That's such a valid concern that I hear all the time for folks
who have worked in crisis response and street work,
we've been doing this for decades.
We're used to it.
There's a ton of training
about scene awareness,
security, human behavior.
Fentanyl is new. It's unique.
Fentanyl and meth, that's new and unique.
And so we all have to upskill even more.
And I'm hearing service providers and clinicians
make different recommendations than I heard ten years ago.
But that is the reason for dual-dispatch.
We will not have officers leave the scene
until they are completely convinced that we are fine here.
And they're supportive of that. They're willing to do that.
And that is why the design.
-Kate, You have a question?
-Yeah, Jeremy kind of alluded to it,
but I guess, and you sort of mentioned it,
but in terms of metrics,
I know you're still developing those,
but I guess anecdotally,
what would a picture of success look like for you?
I know there have been other programs in Albuquerque
and whatnot.
So what exactly would that look like?
And what are some of the, I guess, metrics that you're...
-Yeah, so we just have --
It's really a simple survey tool,
both for the officers who go to these calls.
And then for the behavioral health specialists,
the CARE team.
For CARE team -- Did you feel safe?
Did you feel like you were useful?
Did you feel when police left, did you feel fine,
like they should have?
Did this -- Again, they're all experienced.
They've been doing MCT,
They've been doing secondary response.
And so they're realistic about outcomes.
This is a work of triage.
It's not the same thing as,
you know, clinical therapy or social work.
We don't get to invest with people for a long time.
We get to try to minimize a moment of pain and distress.
We get to try to connect someone to services swiftly.
But we're not in the case management business.
That's not what we're doing. We're responding to 911 calls.
So that's the qualitative stuff on both sides.
Again, whether or not police feel
like they are needed is key.
That's the thing I'm really going to be looking at initially
because they feel a ton of urgency.
Staffing shortages are a real thing,
and it doesn't feel good to not be, for me, too,
we want to -- we want to be used in best,
in highest use, work at the top of our license.
And police often can't do that right now.
And then, you know, in the long run downstream,
how does the community feel?
I don't think that six people
is going to make a meaningful impact.
But does the -- Does the community perceive --
Do you all feel like this is a good step forward,
we're on the right path, this is useful?
I'll be watching 911. Do more people call?
Do people call starting to request the CARE team?
That's not a thing.
You can't order it like a Big Mac,
but if they request it,
it will help me know that there is an awareness.
And that also there is trust in the system that we're designing.
-And we have time for a couple more questions.
I'll come to Erica.
But if there are reporters that haven't asked,
I want to go to you guys first.
Yasmine and Breaking 5, Brady.
-Awesome. Thank you.
I was curious if you could take me
a little bit more through the timeline
of when you're going to be evaluating this
and how much money you were budgeted for this team?
-So evaluation already started in training.
That's what we're doing.
Well, we'll do a formal implementation
evaluation with Seattle University.
But we're looking for, again, leading indicators right away.
We're not going full force right out of the gate
because I'm insisting on after-action reviews.
That we're evaluating every single day --
How did this go?
Was there any variation? What are we seeing?
That's the nice thing about a small geographic area
and about the -- the common scenarios
that we're seeing right now in behavioral health crisis.
It actually minimizes the variables,
which for science is a good thing.
The budget, I mean, we're doing about the same
as I've seen other places.
You start with one and a half to $2 million.
That's where you start with a team of six.
So this is pretty typical
if you look at the different pilots that are scaled.
Generally, if it's going well,
it goes from two to about $7 million to $13 million,
$17 million, something like that.
But we're not talking about that, yet.
I just want proof of concept first.
And I'm encouraged that Seattle is being scientific about this.
And again, allowing me to approach this
the way I think is valid,
not escalate commitment to something I hope is true,
but to actually test and prove it first
before I ask for more money or more folks.
-And a quick follow up, I just wanted to check.
So you were mentioning we have Health One, right?
We have 988. We have CRTU.
I believe half of the city force is CIT certified already.
-Right?
You have the DESC Crisis Connection Center.
So what is this doing that's different?
-If you add all those people up,
Health One is six people --
Do you know that? -- on the social work side.
CRT right now has four people.
I'm adding six people.
I've been to Crisis Connections.
Every one of those systems you mentioned
is absolutely overburdened and buckling under the pressure.
It's hard to retain staff because they're exhausted.
We do not have enough people.
That is, I have a strong bend toward collaboration anyway.
But I'm also practical.
And the best we can do is,
again, I always say stitch together,
get everyone in the same room
and figure out how we can coordinate
because it is not nearly adequate.
You're right about SPD.
They are down 375 officers,
and when you think in terms of percentage,
that is exhausting, relentless work.
And there are protocols that say you have to send
at least this many folks to a call.
So this is -- We are nowhere near it.
We could have three times
as many MHPs and MSWs in this city,
and we still would barely be getting after it.
That's where we are in the state of crisis.
Thank you for the question. It's a good one.
-Yeah, Brady with King 5 here.
Just really quick here as well.
When CARE responders get to the scene,
I guess, when do they know they can leave the scene?
What's kind of that definition?
When the scene is clear, or they consider the scene good
to go with that individual or that group.
-Yeah, the officers determine it.
And it looks very much -- You could --
Dan, you want to stay after for a bit?
You could ask him about it.
But it looks very much
like the protocol that's already in place for MCT or the CSOs.
There's a good group of community service officers
that gets called in.
So it's a similar protocol.
You know, police are very well trained to say,
okay, this isn't a threat. This is okay.
This isn't a threat. This isn't a concern.
And you know, my -- it's just a guess,
But I have a feeling if for whatever reason,
the CARE team was not comfortable,
they could say, please stay for a minute.
I think these are humans and that is what they would say.
But yeah, it's a consistent protocol
with what's been happening for decades.
-Okay. Last question from Erica.
-Can you -- Was the decision to focus on downtown
based on analysis about the number of calls,
that sort of thing, as opposed to other neighborhoods?
-Yeah. I mean, what's really sad right now
is if you look at a heat map
of mental and behavioral health crisis,
it's -- I said the other day --
you can't even tell what's rural or urban or suburban anymore.
It's just everywhere. And so I think it was smart.
It was Deputy Mayor Burgess that suggested the zone first.
And I think that's smart because
I really like a comprehensive effort
so you can test things.
I think in truth, you know,
you want to build a supportive environment.
You have to forge strong relationships
and have familiarity.
So it'll be interesting to see.
I see Dan here from DSC.
You know, a lot of us are talking about supportive housing
where you have these sort of hotspots,
tons of calls, hundreds of calls are coming in to 911.
So I think how do you prevent those calls from happening?
How do you predict more accurately
what the issue is going to be,
and just sort of bolster the community
so that it was chosen because it's already an area of emphasis
where there are resources.
And stay tuned, you know, because it does need to expand.
A lot of people are talking about south of 90 right away.
I'm not in Capitol Hill, right?
I mean, there are places that come to mind quickly
when we think about frequency of crisis.
So yeah. Good question.
-Well, thank all of you.
I think one question has been answered very clearly,
and that's why I would like to call her Chief.
[ Laughter ]
[ Applause ]
I want to thank the press
for being so interested in the community,
being so interested in this topic.
This could help redefine the city for the better.
And I want to thank community leaders
and all of the advocates for doing this work together.
You heard me say before and you can hear me say it again.
We're building One Seattle together.
So thank you very, very much. Thank you.
[ Applause ]