Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell has reached a significant agreement with the rank-and-file Seattle police officers, signaling a major shift in the city's approach to public safety and crisis response, as reported by the Mayor's office. This new collective bargaining agreement grants the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Effort (CARE) Department the capacity to infinitely expand their team of Community Crisis Responders (CCRs) and empower them to respond independently to numerous low-acuity emergency calls. According to Mayor Harrell, this move is directed towards creating a more holistic public safety system in Seattle.
The agreement, which spans from 2024 to 2027, encapsulates numerous improvements including enhancements in the disciplinary procedures to align with the city's 2017 Accountability Ordinance and allows for the civilianization of specific roles within the Seattle Police Department (SPD), Mayor Harrell's administration has worked towards this contractual development seeking to facilitate a specialized, unarmed response to incidents that embody non-criminal emergencies or behavioral health crises, the contract aims to build on CARE's ability to dispatch 5,000 events in 2025 alone and extend their reach further in the coming years. CARE Chief Amy Barden lauded the advancements, saying, "Today we are one step closer to that vision," as she acknowledged the support from diverse sections of the community and SPD members themselves.
"This expanded agreement between the City and SPOG is the most significant milestone since the CARE responder pilot launched two years ago," CARE Chief Amy Barden said, highlighting the enhanced capacity for trained CCRs to be dispatched directly through 911 for a variety of calls, Mayor Harrell echoed this sentiment by emphasizing that this new agreement means that "more people experiencing behavioral health crises will receive the help they need," an outcome that has been the aim of the CARE initiative since its inception. The contract also includes competitive wage adjustments for officers with retroactive pay increases across the four years and introduces education and language skill premiums. This begins in January 2026 to align with the city's priorities on advanced education and multilingual competencies within the force.
Last week, the Seattle Police Officers Guild, which includes patrol officers, detectives, and sergeants, threw their weight behind the agreement. It will now be up to the City Council to give the formal nod before putting the new terms into action. Although the new agreement reached an impasse on proposals to overhaul the discipline appeal process, the city and the Seattle Police Officers Guild are set to proceed with a statutory process that culminates in an arbitrator's decision, Police Chief Shon Barnes commended Mayor Harrell's unwavering resolve saying, "This agreement reflects our shared commitment to the community and ensures that the brave men and women of our police department can continue to serve with pride and dedication."
