It wasn’t an October Surprise, since behind-the-scenes negotiations had been ongoing for months. But Mayor Bruce Harrell’s announcement expanding the city’s civilian public safety department is very big news.
Last Wednesday, Harrell said a tentative collective bargaining agreement had been reached with the police union to make the Community Assisted Response and Engagement Department a fully functional alternative response for many 911 calls.
For years, Seattle leaders have wanted the ability to respond to a range of nonviolent emergency calls with crisis workers instead of armed officers. Of all the barriers to such a new service, the highest was union restrictions.
Responding to emergencies is clearly police work. Police are represented by a strong bargaining unit, the Seattle Police Officers Guild. Nothing would move forward without negotiations.
In late 2023, Harrell signed an agreement with the guild to establish a pilot project that created up to 24 so-called Community Crisis Responders, trained “to deal with mental and behavioral health or social welfare issues,” according to the Memorandum of Understanding with SPOG.
The pilot allowed only “dual dispatch” — police officers and CCRs sent to emergency calls at the same time. If no officer is available, the CCRs had to wait. And the crisis responders could only be dispatched to two kinds of calls: reports of someone collapsed on the street and checks of someone’s welfare.
The tentative agreement authorizes the CARE Department to be “solo dispatched” to all low-acuity 911 calls.
“This expanded agreement between the City and SPOG is the most significant milestone since the CARE responder pilot launched two years ago, and I commend Mayor Harrell for keeping diversified response a top and unequivocal priority,” said CARE Chief Amy Barden.
“The CARE Department represents a movement of both pragmatism and compassion. We work at the intersection of behavioral health and criminal justice, and recognize that when both systems are adequately equipped and designed to rehabilitate and redirect individual lives, our city will be transformed,” she said.
The agreement, which must be approved by the City Council, also includes improvements to the police disciplinary process. The city and police union were not able to agree on changes to the discipline appeal process, and those issues will go to an arbitrator.
As part of the deal, police officers will receive pay and benefit increases. Starting salary for new officers is now $103,000. That rises to $118,000 under the tentative agreement.
The contract covers salaries and working conditions for 2024, 2025, 2026 and 2027.
At a time when Harrell’s job is on the line — thousands of mail-in ballots have already been returned in advance of the Nov. 4 election — the agreement to expand CARE is an impressive accomplishment that shows dogged leadership and a commitment to public safety reform.
