(The Center Square) – Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell and members of the city council have proposed a memorandum of understanding with the Seattle Police Officers Guild that compliments a recently imposed dual-dispatch emergency response pilot program.
The MOU would codify what type of nonviolent calls the new emergency responses would be activated for. Seattle’s newest public safety department, the Community Assisted Response and Engagement department, also known as CARE, features behavioral health specialists who have prior field experience and higher education credentials in behavioral health.
The dual dispatch pilot program pairs CARE responders with Seattle police officers when the 911 Center answers an emergency call. When officers ensure the scene is safe, they can respond to other calls while the CARE team provides services.
Along with supplementing the new pilot program, the MOU also proposed to improve office availability citywide through a special events staffing system. The system provides any officers who volunteer to work special events with a $225 per shift premium while allowing any unfilled positions to be staffed by employees that are not police officers, such as parking enforcement officers.
Currently, the Seattle Police Department fills vacant positions at special events through an officer draft system. According to a press release from Seattle officials, this negatively impacts officer morale, department planning and citywide staffing.
Special events in the city range from Seahawks, Mariners and Kraken games to smaller community-based festivities.
Lastly, the proposed agreement would enable park rangers to serve in all city parks to improve public park safety. Currently, park rangers are limited to patrol parks in downtown Seattle.
The city recently expanded the park ranger program in order to hire 26 park rangers in 2023.
“This proposal recognizes the labor implications at hand and meets the collective bargaining requirements needed to put into action these improvements,” Harrell said in a statement. “As we continue to work toward a safer Seattle, robust diversified responses, and a fair contract for police officers, this agreement is a step in the right direction and a win-win for the people of Seattle and our officers.”
