This fall, the Seattle mayor’s office and city council have agreed to jointly create a new type of crisis response unit to be available when people call 911.
Right now, 911 calls in Seattle go overwhelmingly to police or the fire department. To offer more options — like in Austin, Texas, for instance, where dispatchers offer “police, fire, medical, or mental health" — Seattle City Councilmember Lisa Herbold said they have to first undertake “back-of-the-house work." That means installing new software that allows for “criteria-based dispatch” at the city’s Community Safety and Communications Center.
“They’ve identified the vendor, I believe they’re finalizing the contract,” Herbold said. “The new system will have to be installed. They’ll have to get trained on it.”