‘The people want to come here and work’: Seattle police chief addresses staffing, drones, CARE team

The Seattle Police Department’s (SPD) current workforce includes 1,200 sworn officers and 631 civilian employees, according to the city’s website. The department rebounded from a low point in April 2024, when it had just 424 active officers — the smallest force since at least 1957.

SPD hiring back on track

SPD Chief Shon Barnes said the department is on pace to hire its 150th officer in the next couple of days.

“The people want to come here and work. They want to come here and be a part of what we have going on in the Seattle Police Department,” Barnes told “The Jake and Spike Show” on KIRO Newsradio.

He added that the department is not losing as many officers to other agencies, but instead, officers are retiring.

“We’re not seeing as many. I think we’ll definitely see a higher net. My goal is a net of 100 for this year. Last year, we had a net of one. So if you do the percentage markup, that’s better,” Barnes shared.

Police drones in Seattle next?

Moving on to the topic of drones, as the Redmond Police Department currently uses the technology to nab suspects, Barnes sees the need for the crafty devices in Seattle.

“With FIFA coming up, we’ll have drone detection systems up, obviously, and some of our partners, especially those that are assigned to FIFA, federal partners, will have drones that are up,” he explained. “And it’s just about keeping people safe, being able to see what that call is or what it is not.”

However, he did acknowledge that residents could have privacy concerns.

“Every city has a different tolerance for technology, and so we have to see what the tolerance for technology here is in Seattle,” he said.

Seattle police chief makes case for CARE team

As for responding to a crime, Seattle is expanding its Community Assisted Response and Engagement (CARE) team. The CARE Department is Seattle’s third branch of public safety and operates the 911 Communications Center and the Community Crisis Responder (CCR) Team, according to the city’s website.

However, critics worry the CARE team may be ill-equipped to handle dangerous 911 calls.

Barnes noted that when someone calls the 911 center, which is no longer operated by police, the responders go through a list of questions to assess the situation. One of those questions is if there are any dangerous weapons involved. If the answer is no, then the CARE team will be dispatched.

“For most calls, you go to them, it could be nothing, and then you’re like, ‘Why am I here?’, CARE team could help. Or you could go to calls and it comes out as nothing, and then it turns quickly, but they all have the capability to give us a call, or get on the radio, or not intervene at all if they think it’s going to be dangerous,” Barnes explained.

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

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