You can watch video of the entire event with Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell in the video below:
Following the Seattle City Council’s vote against a bill to re-criminalize public drug use and minor possession, the Mayor tells Northwest Newsradio’s Ryan Harris there will be no return to racist policing under his administration.
Despite the council’s vote, come July Seattle Police can still make arrests under state law, but Mayor Bruce Harrell says he wants police to lead with compassion under what he calls “two lenses”. “Is the person a threat to themselves? Are they unhealthy? Are they living the kind of life, for whatever reason – untreated trauma, institutional racism, whatever led them to a path of harming themselves…drug use – and recognize this person needs help,” Harrell says, “On the other lens, are they a threat to others? The fact of the matter is we have to make lawful and Constitutional arrests when people are a threat to others.”
Harrell says he watched some of the council meeting, so we asked for his response to the dozens of people who expressed concerns the law will mean a return to policing that targets communities of color. He says SPD is complying with the consent decree on use of force, and he says he’s hopeful officers will follow his directive and lead with compassion, but Harrell says he also wants them to be ready to do their jobs.
With where to take people who need help still a big question, Mayor Harrell says he’ll meet with council members, treatment professionals and others with a promise of a plan by next month.
The mayor was at Ingraham High School, which was the site of the November 2022 shooting that left 17-year-old senior, Ebenezer Haile, dead. Harrell was there to introduce a new program, being led in part by area youth, with the goal of quickly finding and helping young people with mental health concerns. The following is taken from the press release on that new program:
Mayor Bruce Harrell joined Seattle youth and education, health, and community partners to announce the launch of Reach Out Seattle, a new initiative focused on prevention and early intervention of youth mental and behavioral health challenges.
By uniting 12 sectors and stakeholders across the city, the initiative seeks to disrupt the progression to adult disease and create a healthier future for Seattle’s youth and the entire community.
“Youth experiencing mental or behavioral health challenges deserve compassion, care, and support from the trusted adults in their life to put them on a path towards healing and wellness,” said Mayor Harrell. “By taking a One Seattle approach and bringing together leaders experienced in working with young people from across our city to prioritize prevention, help youth build resilience and healthy coping skills, and align and amplify supportive resources, Reach Out Seattle will ensure our response to the youth mental health crisis is comprehensive and centers youth voices and the needs of the community.”
READ: “Reach Out Seattle” – A Youth Mental Health Initiative Fact Sheet
Reach Out Seattle will promote youth mental health and overall wellness by developing community learning programs that focus on prevention, early identification, and non-clinical intervention strategies to equip parents, caregivers, and trusted adults with the tools and training needed to support a youth in distress. This model of offering standardized learning programs to community is based on the Seattle Fire Department’s successful Medic I and II Programs and aims to empower residents to be first responders.
Developed with input from Seattle youth and youth mental health providers, the learning programs will teach community members how to how to identify a young person displaying signs of mental or behavioral health challenges, when and how to intervene, as well as how to coordinate access to available resources if clinical intervention is necessary. The learning programs will incorporate youth perspectives to ensure the materials provided to the community are responsive to their needs and include identification and prevention techniques from mental and behavioral health specialists.
The initiative also includes a youth-led multi-media public education campaign to raise awareness and destigmatize the conversation around mental health in the community.
WATCH: PSA: 5 ways to support youth mental health
WATCH: PSA: HAGS (“have a great summer”)
Mayor Harrell announced the new initiative at Ingraham High School, where an on-campus shooting killed a student in fall 2022. Responding to urgent student requests to increase resources for mental health following the shooting, Mayor Harrell and Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda advanced a proposal to invest $9.4 million in the 2023 budget in school mental health resources for Seattle students. This initiative will complement the new $4.5 million investment in the Student Mental Health Supports Pilot to improve student mental health and academic outcomes.
“The world our young people are growing up in today is very different than when I attended school in Seattle,” said Mayor Harrell. “As the threat and incidence of gun violence continues to increase nationwide, we know that too often the lasting scars on our young people aren’t only physical. Our youth deserve safe, supportive environments to learn, grow, and reach adulthood, and it will take an all-of-society effort like we are advancing with the Reach Out Seattle initiative to support the mental health and wellbeing of our youth.”