Seattle mayor proposes police agreement looking to improve officer availability

Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell recently unveiled new details of a proposed plan to improve public safety in the form of a new agreement with the Seattle’s Police Officers Guild.

The proposed agreement is a non-binding “memorandum of understanding” (MOU) since the Seattle Police Department’s union contract is currently under negotiation.

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Harrell, along with five City Council members, proposed the new plan to help improve public safety by expanding diversified response, increasing park ranger responsibilities and improving police availability and event staffing.

“Safety is our highest responsibility, and we are committed to advancing needed new and commonsense solutions to support people in need, improve emergency response times, and ensure public spaces and special events are welcoming and secure,” Harrell said in a statement.

The plan includes the creation of the newly formed public safety department, the Community Assisted Response and Engagement (CARE) department, and its Dual Dispatch Pilot program, which will identify emergency calls where a behavioral health professional should respond along with Seattle police or firefighters.

The program is set to hire 13 full-time staff members, as well as make upgrades to technology, and invest in what the mayor’s office is calling “enhanced violence intervention efforts.”

Other changes include an expansion of the jurisdiction of park rangers to serve all parks in the city, instead of just parks downtown and to expand the officer availability for special events.

Through a new special events staffing system, officers who volunteer to staff special events will receive a $225 flat premium per shift and unfilled positions can be filled by non-officers like parking enforcement.

The city said the Seattle Police Department’s current approach to staff open special event positions relies on an officer draft system, which impacts “officer morale, department planning, and citywide staffing.”

“This proposal is a concrete step forward for our efforts to bolster public safety in Seattle and represents a partnership between City leaders and labor representatives towards our shared goal to keep communities safe,” City Council President Debra Juarez said in a statement. “By supporting the mission of the new CARE Department and allowing Park Rangers to expand their boundaries to all parks, the agreement will help alleviate the strain on police resources and ensure people in need receive appropriate assistance in an emergency.”