🚔 Crisis responders hamstrung by police

Crisis Response Team Says Police Limit Their Work

Coming out of Seattle’s 2020 protests, the city promised to figure out how to provide unarmed crisis response without involving police, particularly in cases related to mental illness, substance use, and poverty. The Community Assisted Response and Engagement (CARE) team was meant to fill this promise, but now the department’s chief, Amy Barden, says the city’s contract with the Seattle Police Officers Guild prevents her team from doing their job effectively. [PubliCola]

• What Does the Contract Include? Police determine which calls get routed to CARE and the contract prohibits the team from responding to calls if “drug paraphernalia” is visible; if a person seems likely to be “confrontational”; if a person in crisis is inside a building or car; or if there is an “indication” that the person has committed any crime, among many other restrictions including if a minor is present. [PubliCola]
• Why Do These Limits Exist? Chief Barnes said it’s hard to tell when a situation will become confrontational or violent. At a Seattle City Council public safety committee meeting on Tuesday, he gave the example of having a gun pointed at him while responding to a call that was originally reported as “dementia.” However, the CARE team says they have only had to call police for additional assistance 16 times since 2023, and never because a team member was in physical danger. [PubliCola]
• Why Does SPOG Bargain on CARE’s Work? SPOG says CARE’s work overlaps with work previously reserved for police officers, so SPOG demanded that the city allow them to bargain for limits on the CARE team’s actions. CARE did not see the new restrictions on their team until after labor negotiations wrapped last year and the contract went public.
• What Could Address This? Mayor Wilson’s chief public safety adviser said they’re consulting with the city attorney’s office on how to interpret the contract, which isn’t up for renewal until 2028. The head of the CARE team said they could partner with Harborview, the King County Jail, and the 988 crisis line to make connections before they become 911 calls. But SPOG seems unwilling to change the current restrictions. The new head of the SPOG, Kent Loux (of wolves in campaign video fame), said they “support CARE, but want to abide by the MOU or the agreement, that’s it.” [Seattle Times]

Lawmakers Urge Passage of Millionaire's Tax Without Corporate Giveaway 🔔

The WA Senate passed the millionaires tax in mid-February, but it contained a clause that gets rid of a surcharge on businesses grossing $250 million in taxable annual income. Now, about a dozen representatives from the Washington State House Democratic Caucus have signed a letter calling for the House Finance Committee to pass the tax without this “giveaway.” They say the tax break will cost the state $550 million in lost revenue. To put that figure in perspective, they say, the proposed cuts to Washington’s K-12 schools in the Senate’s supplementary budget draft total only $310 million. [The Burner]

Are Seattle’s Microclimates As Varied as Its Neighborhoods? 🌤️

The fog zone, the heat dome, the snow hole, the wild zone: these are a few of the microclimate names Seattle Weather Blog’s Justin Shaw came up with to label the way our shorelines and topography can mean sun downtown while it’s pouring in Rainier Beach. What’s the weather like in your microclimate? [Seattle Met]

Zero Dollars From WA’s New $100M Grant Program Have Gone To Hire Cops 🚓

Last year, Gov. Ferguson said he would veto a state budget that didn’t include his $100 million grant program to boost police hiring. The implementation of the program, however, is off to a rocky start. So far, money from the program has yet to reach cities and counties, and just six police departments have applied at all. Local officials complain it’s been slow and full of technical issues. This program was intended to address our state’s status as the last in the nation for police staffing per capita. [Washington State Standard]