By Sara Jean Green
The Seattle Times
SEATTLE — Seattle mayor-elect Katie Wilson introduced Wednesday she is going to hold police Chief Shon Barnes and three different public-safety leaders when she takes workplace subsequent month.
In an announcement titled “A Vision for Public Safety in Seattle,” Wilson wrote that each individual within the metropolis, no matter earnings or background, deserves to really feel secure of their properties and in public areas, together with companies and parks.
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“I perceive public security as a shared accountability, requiring police, fireplace, emergency administration, different responders, service suppliers, neighborhood leaders, companies, and residents to work collectively to get outcomes,” the assertion says. “And it’s time to construct a coordinated, fashionable system which displays that shared accountability and helps us tackle our most troublesome challenges, together with persistent neighborhood-based questions of safety, gun violence, behavioral well being, and substance abuse.”
Barnes, Seattle Fire Department Chief Harold Scoggins, CARE Department Chief Amy Barden and Office of Emergency Management Director Curry Mayer will probably be staying on in Wilson’s administration. Each place serves on the discretion of the mayor.
Barnes, who turned interim chief in January and was sworn in in July, beforehand served as police chief in Madison, Wisc. He is the Seattle Police Department’s thirty eighth chief and the fourth individual to function chief or interim chief since 2018.
In an announcement posted to the Police Department’s on-line blotter, Barnes stated he’s “grateful and honored” to proceed serving as chief, calling it “a once-in-a-lifetime alternative” that he doesn’t take frivolously or without any consideration.
“Public security is a shared worth, and our priorities stay intact: crime prevention, neighborhood engagement, retention and recruitment of a professional workforce, security and wellness, and steady enchancment,” Barnes’ assertion says. “I wish to thank the women and men of SPD and our whole neighborhood for our continued efforts to maintain the town — and the area — secure.”
Scoggins has led the Fire Department for the previous decade after serving as fireplace chief in Glendale, Calif. The Fire Department is liable for offering fireplace, emergency medical and rescue companies within the metropolis.
Barden started working for the town in spring 2023 to assist construct the brand new Community Assisted Response and Engagement Department, which handles nonmedical 911 calls and responds to nonviolent, nonmedical calls.
Wilson’s assertion famous the division homes diversion packages, public security shelter sources and road security groups, and is working to handle public order points stemming from unmet wants.”
“And central to our fashionable, diversified security mannequin, seamless coordination between SPD, CARE, and different non-police companies will guarantee the suitable responder is dispatched for behavioral well being crises, welfare checks, and non-violent conditions, Wilson’s assertion says.
Fulfilling CARE’s meant position will enhance outcomes for weak residents and permit officers to give attention to responding to extra emergent, severe incidents, the assertion says.
A newly authorised police contract might vastly increase CARE’s position within the metropolis, clearing the way in which to rent extra disaster responders and deploy them with out the assistance of sworn officers.
Curry Mayer turned director of Seattle’s workplace of emergency administration in 2020 after serving 4 years as Bellevue’s emergency supervisor, in keeping with her LinkedIn profile.
Under Mayer’s management, “we are going to construct our metropolis’s resilience to disasters, together with extreme climate, and rising threats by working hand-in-hand with communities to make sure preparedness efforts replicate their wants and strengths,” Wilson’s assertion says.
“With lively partnership and path from the Mayor’s workplace, I consider these leaders can work collectively and type a unified workforce dedicated to strengthening coordination, reform, accountability, and outcomes,” Wilson wrote.
Wilson additionally confused her intent to construct relationships and work with service suppliers, outreach groups, diversion case managers, enterprise enchancment areas, small companies, and neighborhood group to undertake a problem-solving strategy that addresses root causes as an alternative of relying solely on enforcement.
She additionally wrote that public security means defending immigrant communities, guaranteeing the protection of LGBTQ+ neighborhood members, preserving privateness and addressing issues round surveillance know-how and guaranteeing secure streets and public areas.
“Seattle is prepared for a brand new chapter — one the place public security is efficient, equitable, accountable, and rooted in partnership with our communities,” Wilson’s assertion says.
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