NPAC February Meeting Notes

SPD North Precinct Advisory Council

  

Expanding Communication between the Police and Community 

NPAC MONTHLY MEETING MINUTES 

February 7, 2024 

Recorded by Leon Seaman 

Please share this information with your neighbors, neighborhood organizations and businesses 

This month’s meeting was conducted on Zoom, Katy Dwyer presiding. She opened the meeting at 7:08pm, welcoming presenters, members, and guests. 

• Thanks again to University Masonic Lodge for covering the cost of our Zoom License.  

• The meeting will be recorded, and the recording made available for public viewing.  Topics covered: 

1. Acting Chief Amy Smith of Seattle’s new CARE Team (Community Assisted Response  and Engagement) 

a. Personal background: 

1) I’ve been in this role almost a year; have had a 27-year career in non-profit work,  child-welfare, mental health provision, foster care, etc. I lived in Seattle’s central dis trict, but was in the Midwest from 2016 until 2022, so was absent during Seattle’s re cent upheaval in public safety, justice, policing, and politics. I returned to be close to  my kids, worked for Providence in population health. 

2) While pursuing my Ed.D., anchored in data science, I worked with the federal govt., looking at how to promote a learning, more questioning culture in organizations like  the military which value obedience, so that those serving on the frontlines, most fa miliar with the problems and their solutions are encouraged to speak out. 

3) I don’t care for politics, so was surprised to be approached by the Harrell Administra tion, but intrigued by the idea of a new 911/dual dispatch alternative response model,  one that was emerging nationally. After some hesitation, I accepted the role, and was  soon obsessed with the work, and fascinated by the role of 911 as a community data  hub to gauge what is going on in the community and our response to it. 

b. Getting to know the local situation: 

1) I am indebted to Bill Schrier for teaching me the facts and figures about responders  in the field—primary, secondary, KC Mobile Crisis team, CSOs (Community Service  Officers), Police, Crisis Response Team, etc. Initially I was rather naïve and ignorant  of political realities like ‘Defund’ and criticisms of the 911 system, but also intention ally ignored the ‘political context,’ preferring to base my opinions on what I’m seeing, and to meet both issues and people ‘in the moment.’ 

2) Having visited academic hubs like Georgetown, NYU, U Chicago Health Lab, leaders  in innovative research on 911 and alternatives to policing, I found that, though there  

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are 75 pilot projects nationally, there is as yet no blueprint. So I just anchored in the  data, i.e. the actual 8—900,000 911 calls, sorting them into police, fire, or medical,  and asking what would alleviate the burden on police. 

3) I visited at the East Precinct, met (then) Lt. Daniel Nelson, the first co-responder, and  the team of MHPs (Mental Health Professionals) there, for whom I feel affection and  gratitude, because although they might, politically, have resented me, they were in stead supportive and collaborative as I got to know SPD and SFD, trying to improve the routing of emergency calls to different services. 

4) To the City Council I presented the issue not as a political or philosophical one, but  as utilitarian, i.e. which people to send in response to which calls. I’ve learned as I go, e.g. about the role of Labor in the City, dealing with 4 different Unions. I sat down  with their leaders, including SPOG’s Mike Solan, apologizing for not talking to them  sooner, establishing working relationships with Mike and Kenny Stuart of the fire fighter’s union, and obtaining an MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) with SPOG (Seattle Police Officer’s Guild). 

c. The CARE Team is working: 

1) The pilot team consists of 6 MHPs working out of the Municipal Tower just in the  Downtown Activation Zone, in teams of 2 in a civilian vehicle, in a 12hr shift, from  11am to 11pm, so as to cover the evening hours when crises escalate, since case  managers and other co-responders operate mostly in business hours. 

2) It has gone well. After the launch in October, they initially went out in secondary  mode, waiting to be called by police, but since the MOU was finalized, they go in  dual-dispatch mode at the same time as police. If the subject is a high-utilizer, the  police may tell us just take it, knowing there is no safety concern. Sometimes they  also just flag us down in the street. 

3) KOMO News’ Joel Moreno just today did a news report highlighting our progress:  ( https://komonews.com/news/local/seattle-community-assisted-response-engage ment-care-team-mental-health-concerns-dispatchers-911-chief-amy-smith-re sources-behavioral-health-experts-crimes-professionals-firefighters-police-officers king-county ). We’ve taken 250 calls, alleviating and saving the police about 1000  hours. In cases where the CARE Team is there for an hour or often much longer, the  police are able to leave within minutes! We’ve only had to call them back 3 times, but  never for a safety concern, just to get a referral from them. 

d. Question: Is CARE under or apart from SPD? 

The CARE Dept. is a third public safety dept. This is significant because nationally other alternative response pilots have been attached to police or fire depts. But the Mayor’s  vision was for three separate depts, for a new first responder unit, a civilian response to  911 when appropriate. The data shows that crime is not diminishing, so we need to free  police officers up to deal with it. 

e. Question: Is there any coordination with SPD Community Service Officers? Yes. At first I did not understand the role of the CSOs, which caused some tension. They  are great professionals, whose role has not been as clearly articulated as it should. They 

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support both the community and the police and deserve recognition for their work. There  are hundreds of call types in 911, some of which can be routed to the CSOs, according  to their varied skills and preferences, be it crisis response, community building, or ‘police  lite.’ They are really good, for instance, at juvenile work. 

f. Question: Can a determination (diagnosis) made by a Crisis Response Team be over turned? 

Our work is not diagnosis but triage. We report what we see and hear and what service  we connect people to. The variety of need out there is so vast, beyond categorization by  call types. An example: recently an elderly woman who’d lost her husband was evicted from her home of decades, out on the curb with all her things, probably grief-stricken and  devastated, wouldn’t leave her things, her whole life. There’s no clinical diagnosis; she’s  scared and confused; it’s 28°; we need to get her indoors. CARE team workers spent 3 hours identifying what she needed to feel ok, what she could bear to walk away from,  getting her to a shelter, and also connected to a social worker to help her navigate the  next weeks. (More on this at https://crosscut.com/news/2023/12/meet-care-team-seat tles-new-mental-health-crisis-responders). 

g. Question: What do you see as your unit’s greatest need right now? Staffing? 1) Housing 911 will always be our primary priority. It is the City’s data hub, but has been  woefully neglected, staff not even federally recognized as first responders. WA State  does recognize them, but provides nothing. It’s stressful, traumatic, and exhausting work, with staffing shortages and mandatory overtime. Driving to work recently I was lis tening in on someone threatening suicide. When I arrived the person had jumped, and I  went to talk to the dispatcher. Though a tough, seasoned young man, he was on the  verge of tears. So my primary emphasis is on staffing, retention strategies, and working  with the guild to redesign the work, to have more flexibility and peer support, e.g., just to  have holiday parties, such a simple but meaningful thing.  

2) I also want to organize the staff we already have. There are crisis responders in many  city departments, but they could be much better organized, coordinated, and supported.  3) It’s also important we be in all seven districts by the end of the year. I’d like to analyze 

crisis hotspots, like the Morrison (DESC housing: 85 police dispatches last year, 25%  crises). Can we bolster the environment and equip them for de-escalation? h. Question: Would it help to publicize the dept’s role by having a news crew embedded? As more of an introvert I was initially surprised by the intense media interest, but now I do try to take interviews with anyone to get the word out. 

i. Question: Does the team on the ground have paratransit capabilities to transport wheel chair bound? 

We have temporary, repurposed vehicles, one of which is a van (could be used as a  warming center) that has a wheelchair lift. Two more are on order. It’s an urgent need. j. Question: Do you have a sense yet of whether the new City Council members support the CARE approach? 

I have been outspoken that you cannot have a CARE approach instead of investing in  police. The best example of alternative response is Albuquerque. They began in the Fire 

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Dept, in the wake of ‘Defund,’ but soon became a third dept. They and the police soon  learned the need to work closely together, and are insistent you cannot let City Council  or politicians ever divide you, After starting with 6 people, they now have 138. Ironically,  their alternative response team has become a conduit for police recruitment! Adrian  (SPD Chief Diaz) and I talk every day, and I will not let them take a dollar from Police for  the CARE Dept. Seattle needs more, not less police. 

k. Question (CM Cathy Moore): Is the CARE team different from Designated Crisis Re sponders? 

Totally different! DCR is a position defined by very stringent WA State involuntary treat ment/assessment policies. Only they can remand someone for treatment. In all of King  County we have only 30. Pierce County has expanded the interpretation of a DCR, and  

has 400. We often see people in severe crisis needing to be moved into a facility for their  own and others’ safety, so we need a DCR on scene, but there are few available. I’m promoting legislative change with KC. Think of our team as Seattle’s own mobile crisis  team. In fact County would be really glad to have us take care of Seattle! 

l. Question: First, I want to say that the 911 call takers are really helpful right now. Not too  long ago (I'm thinking 2020), when I’d call 911, I’d more than likely have to talk with  someone very rude or just not helpful. I'm wondering if/how you’re communicating to city  residents that the 911 Center has changed (thereby encouraging people to call 911 even  when they may have had a bad experience with it before). 

Yes, we had terrible staffing shortages and morale then. We’re planning a Community  Engagement tour, stressing how 911 works, that we’re staffed up, happy and helpful,  and please just call 911 and we’ll direct you where you need to go. Let us do that! 

a. Question: Does your dept. interface with or receive calls from the Find It, Fix It App? We don’t yet do so, but should. San Francisco does that, and I’m working on it. b. Question: I work for MV Transportation. Let us know if you ever need support. We run  Access services for Metro. 

That’s awesome! 

2. North Precinct Captain’s Report: Captain Lori Aagard 

a. North Precinct crime stats: 

Year to date Last 28 days 

Overall: Down 20% Down 20% 

Violent crime: Up 15% Up 31% 

Shots fired: Up 25% Up 100% 

Property crime: Down 23% Down 23% 

b. North Precinct priority stats: 

Year to date Last 28 days 

Burglary Down 18% Down 21% 

(Hotspots: U District, Northgate, Ballard South, Fremont, Roosevelt/Ravenna) Motor vehicle theft Up 17% Up 11% 

(Hotspots: Northgate, U District, Sandpoint, Ballard South, Roosevelt/Ravenna, Bitterlake)

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c. Other updates: 

1) Last month someone asked about a deceased person found in a car in the 900 block  of NW Ballard Way. I found out that someone had located their stolen car there and  found the deceased person in it. They called police, homicide responded, and the  Medical Examiner’s preliminary determination is that they died from CO inhalation. 

2) On the improved Online Reporting System: there are still some tech issues to work  out, but hopefully it’ll be up and running soon. 

3) On recent burglaries in Loyal Heights: Soprano’s Pizza had their front door window  smashed on 1-19-2024. It’s assigned to our General Investigations Unit, but as yet  there’s no suspect. Officer Mike Cruzan and CPC Katelyn Yep visited Soprano’s and  the Nail Shop next door, and did a security assessment. Larsen’s Bakery was bur glarized back at Christmas. It’s assigned to the GIU too, but no suspect as yet. 

4) On the Ballard robberies: I talked to the lieutenant in Robbery today. They’ve got the  instigator of those robberies and are currently charging him. 

d. Questions and Answers: 

1) A couple of weeks ago an RV on N 143rd & Fremont exploded and burned up in the  North Bitterlake neighborhood. Witnesses said the occupant quickly left the RV in a truck before it exploded. Any info on specifics? Was it a drug lab? Was it on pur pose? Was the occupant apprehended? 

Officer Mike Cruzan (SPD): I’m not familiar with that one. We’ve had a few here and  there throughout the city. If you let me know the date, I’ll look into it and see what we  learned about that incident. 

2) I’d like to bring up Fremont, Leary Way, 24th, Crown Hill, then down Holman, the  Greenwood corridor, the Aurora corridor. I believe it’s an organized group doing it. We’re just getting shellacked. 

Yes, we’ve also been working on the other side of the freeway, on the 35th Ave NE corridor. We can put our Mobile Precinct out there to help discourage this. 3) (Wendy Sykes for CM Maritza Rivera): 16 businesses on the 35th Ave NE corridor have had issues recently, and a business owner on Sandpoint Way has been broken  into for the fifth time in six months, among others. Can you address the use of cars to  break in, causing so much costly damage for the owners? 

Yes, this is a trend we’re seeing all over the city, stealing a car and crashing it into  the front of a business, causing a huge amount of damage to fix, probably more than  they steal. They run in, load up what they can in another stolen car, often leaving the  crashed one there. Most of the cars are easy-to-steal Hyundais and Kias. I’ve talked  to businesses all over. Some put up concrete barriers, an aesthetic problem. 

4) There has been organized crime along Greenwood Avenue for years. This group is  growing. There is vandalism of a number of buildings in a row, drugs and street  crime, compounded by drug abuse and mental health issues. 

Yes, I haven’t read the data for that area recently. There are several encampments  around there, which can increase crime. I think we cleaned up two today. Email me 

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or Officer Cruzan if you notice a trend, so we can get extra patrols out there. We do  need to hear from you guys what’s going on. 

5) Since a lot of those crimes are dealing with stolen cars, is SPD doing any more  events where they give out steering wheel clubs? 

We just had another one. Our CPCs are handling that, I’ll find out. Our patrol cars will  soon have ALPRs (Automated License Plate Readers), catching and running all the  plates they pass, identifying stolen cars. That’ll keep us busy! 

6) Are the ALPRs part of the technology package that was just approved? Yes, and we have to clear it with the surveillance ordinance, too. 

7) On the property-damage side, is there any follow up on the graffiti all around Baker  Park? I reported it to Find It, Fix It a month ago, but nothing happened. Officer Mike Cruzan (SPD): I did get the pictures on that. We report it to the Parks  Dept. to take it down. We don’t have any leads on it yet, but please keep reporting it  so it gets removed and doesn’t beget more graffiti. 

It happens constantly in the areas where people barbecue, the children’s playground,  and on the fences, they’re all graffitied. Someone comes and tries to clean it up, but  it just keeps getting tagged. There’s also an abandoned property next to Baker Park that keeps getting broken into and tagged. One time somebody parked a car inside  the park. We reported it, but the only response we got was when someone reported  an illegal fire; then SFD came, but found no illegal fire and left. 

Officer Cruzan: We’ve had a lot of challenges in that area over the last four years. It’s  greatly improved. Reducing the camp by Safeway across the street has helped. We  want to address those camps, getting the occupants into housing. Keep notifying us.  The City’s Dept. of Construction and Inspection is communicating with the landlord of  the vacant property to maintain security and code compliance. 

Capt. Aagard: I’d like the North Precinct Community to know how fortunate you are  that we have 2 Project Officers, Officers Cruzan and Gordon, my only resources  other than Patrol to handle these kind of things. Other precincts don’t have them. They’re very valuable, and I’m trying to keep them. 

8) Who actually handles graffiti? 

Meagan Westphal (City Attorney’s Office): Last June, US District Court declared our municipal code against graffiti unconstitutional, so neither SPD nor my office could  investigate or prosecute those crimes. We appealed, but were on hold for 6 months,  until the Ninth Circuit just reversed the injunction, allowing us to resume our activity. We had a detective dedicated to graffiti, lost after ‘Defund.’ Now we have a detective  at Intel who has it as a side project, but he’s going after the big-name taggers in the  city rather than lower-level stuff. Other routes are available: SPU and the Mayor’s Of fice both have graffiti abatement programs. 

9) Have the new Council Members met with you to find out what North Precinct needs  most? Do they meet with the individual Captains or just with the Chief? Yes, I have two meetings with different CMs next week, and one this Friday. We 

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have the same goal, community safety, so I encourage 2-way communication. 10) The two motels [Seattle Inn, Emerald Motel] are re-opened on Aurora. Is the SPD  nuisance decree still in effect? What are the triggers if crime increases in the area? I  am concerned that the human traffickers and their victims will return along with the  crime and violence. What is the City and SPD position on this? 

Meagan Westphal (CAO): In August last year they were declared nuisance proper ties due to very high rates of crime, and shut down. They were required to undergo very thorough health, construction, fire, and business inspections. After 6 months  they’re in compliance and can reopen, but for 2 years are under a Correction Agree ment, which includes having 24/7 security, a huge deterrent to criminal behavior.  Breaches will subject them to further scrutiny and proceedings. 

11) Are there other cities in the country dealing with the Kia [and Hyundai] problem differ ently than Seattle? 

Meagan Westphal (CAO): As discussed at previous NPAC meetings, the CAO did  file a lawsuit against Hyundai and Kia for negligence. It will take some time, though. 12) Is the graffiti gang-related? 

Meagan Westphal (CAO): I don’t know for sure, but from what my office has seen, it  doesn’t appear so. 

3. Seattle City Attorney’s Office Report: Meagan Westphal 

See Questions and Answers, 2.d.8, 10, 11, and 12 above 

4. King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office’s Report: Casey McNerthney 

a. On the North Aurora vehicular assaults: at the arraignment today for the 13-year-old we  amended one charge to Assault in the First Degree, a more serious charge. The 15- year-old is also facing charges. We really appreciate the work of SPD on that case. 

b. Also, along those lines, our office is opening new lines of communication with City and  County law enforcement to answer their questions about current laws on investigating  and prosecuting juvenile crimes and to promote inter-agency collaboration. 

c. Our office is working on a School Safety Summit to bring together Police and remaining  School Resource Officers, administrators and teachers to identify any threats they see. d. On car thefts: we’ll soon have our juvenile crime data-dashboard up and running to pro vide more specific stats. Our message is that if you steal a car and run it into a business,  or if you pull a gun on someone, the case is not going to diversion; you’re going to court! e. Questions and Answers:  

1) Does the KCPAO have a role with the WA State Liquor and Cannabis Board regard ing the recent issues around citations at LGBT bars? 

No we don’t. It was completely separate from us, and we are in fact concerned about it, and for the well-being and support of that community. 

2) Kia has cost the city. Will the city get money from Kia to reimburse business owners? Good question. Kia has said they meet federal safety standards, But those standards  aren’t enough to stop the 500% increase in Kia thefts. The suit brought by CA Ann 

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Davison will hopefully help to make the point, it’s not ok to make a car that a four teen-year-old can easily steal! 

3) I’m a resident here in Crown Hill, been here a couple of years. I’ve seen system fail ures on all ends. Last year we had package thefts running rampant in the area. I put  a GPS in a box, had it stolen, and tracked the person down. I was fortunate that a  police officer came by and initiated proceedings. The case went to the DA; they were  going to prosecute it and contacted me to testify. And then it stopped. I also see fail ures from police calls. I made a call about drug use at a bus stop, but the call got routed to King County. I see failures all around as a resident, and I wonder where I fit  in, what do I do at this point . . . like with prosecution, does it stop there? Should I ap proach the people doing the crime, though I might put myself in danger doing that? First, make sure to keep yourself safe. We see those situations go sideways very  quickly. On the bus-stop call, even in Seattle the KC Sheriff’s office handles calls re lated to Transit, that’s why your 911 call went to the County. On the package theft,  when you say DA, I’m not sure if you mean the CAO which handles misdemeanors  or the KCPAO which handles felonies; it depends on the value of the stolen goods. If  they entered an apartment building to steal a package it may be burglary. If you have  a case number, drop it in the chat, or email me and I’ll find out what happened to it. It's probably a failure on my part that I didn’t follow up. I see a lot of rampant drug  use. Is it being prosecuted? Do I even bother to call? Will it go further after that? It’s worth calling it in. I think what SPD would say—though I don’t speak for them—is  that with staffing shortages, they need you to call in what you see. Here at KCPAO we handle the drug dealers, and just in the last two weeks we’ve had significant  cases, working with SPD and the Sheriff; more than 70lbs of meth and fentanyl was  taken off the streets. There’s a lot more out there, but we’ll keep on charging dealers  because fentanyl is not the weed of twenty years ago, it’s so deadly! And when you  see people preying on others all over the county, it’s a big problem. Individual drug  use cases go to the CA, Meagan’s office, and we’re in communication. It’s important  to get the dealers before a judge. They’re hurting and killing people! 

Katy Dwyer, NPAC President, closed the meeting at 8:30pm, thanking our presenters and all  who attended. 

• Join us for next month’s meeting on Wednesday, March 6, 2024, at 7:00pm on Zoom. 

• We will have a presentation on SPD’s Community Service Officer Program. Please join us with your questions on the CSOs and what they do!

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