A dramatic shift is coming to the way 911 calls are handled in Seattle: Police officers and Behavioral Health workers will start hitting the streets together this fall.
Psychiatric episodes have long been treated like violent crimes and unknowing officers have shot and killed people in the confusion.
“We anticipate hiring six behavioral health responders and a clinical supervisor” Amy Smith is Deputy Director of the new Community Safety & Communications Center
“Police already have a fantastic crisis response team” she says “Where a highly skilled, highly trained officer and a highly skilled, highly trained mental health professional respond together.”
Knowing when to dispatch these teams on 911 calls is going to develop over time we’re told “They get a lot of referrals actually from those who are responding” but Deputy Mayor Monisha Harrell says lessons are being learned from cities like Albuquerque “It is helping to train their 911 response to say, ‘actually this should’ve never been a police call or a fire call, this should’ve gone here.”
The first teams are expected to hit the streets of Seattle in October “I really look forward to this fall” says councilmember Andrew Lewis “This is going to make a really huge difference.”
After getting off to a slow start, Reba Gonzales was hired as Director in January and the effort to build a different kind of 911 system took off “It’s really important we frame up for the public what we’re trying to do from a 911 lens, who to call” Amy Smith says the people who need this kind of intervention, often don’t know it’s available “It would be lovely to just continue to research, but we don’t have the luxury. People are really suffering, and we know enough to help right now.”
Help like never before.
