On March 10, 2025, Seattle CARE Department Community Crisis Responders (CCR) will begin providing services in both South Precinct and Southwest Precinct, where they will assist Seattle Police Department (SPD) patrol officers on 9-1-1 crisis calls that are non-violent and non-life-threatening.

CCRs will be dispatched via the Seattle CARE Department 9-1-1 Communications Center, for 9-1-1 call events with a nexus to behavioral health (mental illness/substance use) and/or homelessness. This innovative approach not only frees up police officers to handle higher priority 9-1-1 emergency events but it also provides people experiencing crises with the appropriate services they need, increasing public safety and public health in Seattle.

CCRs have been providing assistance to SPD patrol officers for 9-1-1- crisis calls in West Precinct since Mayor Bruce Harrell launched the department in autumn 2023, in East Precinct since July, 2024, shortly after Mayor Harrell introduced his proposal to expand CCR services citywide, and in North Precinct since January 2025.

With a new cohort of CCRs having just been hired, the Seattle CARE Department Community Crisis Response Division currently has twenty-seven CCRs, three of whom serve as supervisors and are qualified Mental Health Professionals (MHP). The Crisis Response Division is also managed by a qualified MHP and staffed with behavioral health professionals.

Please follow the Seattle CARE Department on social media and subscribe to this newsletter to stay updated on developments with the Seattle 9-1-1 Communications Center and the Community Crisis Response Division.