Most 911 calls made to Seattle police are for noncriminal activity

The company, the Nationwide Institute for Felony Justice Reform, was employed in 2020 to investigate calls to Seattle police as a part of then-Mayor Jenny Durkan’s govt order geared toward reimagining policing within the metropolis. That order, issued within the wake of George Floyd’s homicide by Minneapolis police, sought to grasp how alternate options to policing would work in Seattle.

The purpose of analyzing police calls is to determine simply how usually police are literally wanted when 911 is named.

Activists argue that the majority work might be carried out by somebody aside from an armed officer, who they are saying can escalate a scenario. In flip, they are saying educated professionals ought to reply to calls alone or with an officer, so long as the officer retains their distance.

The company’s report seems to validate the activists’ argument, at the least in Seattle.  

The most typical 911 name Seattle police acquired between 2017 and 2019 was for “premise checks” — a name through which an officer checks a selected space to verify all the pieces is OK. The division acquired 112,265 premise examine calls throughout that point.

The second, third and fourth most typical calls had been for unspecified disturbances, a suspicious particular person and site visitors violations, respectively. Seattle police acquired 388,929 requires these forms of incidents mixed between 2017 and 2019.

Primarily based on their findings, analysts with the Nationwide Institute for Felony Justice Reform created a four-tier construction they advocate Seattle police implement:

– The primary tier, which applies to noncriminal exercise, requires the response of a educated skilled solely.

– The second tier, which applies to misdemeanor exercise through which an arrest is unlikely, requires the response of a educated skilled and officer. The skilled would arrive first and name off the officer in the event that they decide the officer isn’t wanted.

– The third tier, which applies to felony exercise through which an arrest is probably going, additionally requires the response of a educated skilled and officer. Nevertheless, the officer would arrive first to find out in the event that they’re wanted. In the event that they resolve they’re not, they’ll let the skilled take over.

– The fourth tier, which applies to felony exercise through which an arrest could be very probably, requires an officer to reply alone.

The company recommends that Seattle police assign every name sort to considered one of these 4 tiers and reply to 911 calls accordingly. Nevertheless, whether or not Seattle’s present mayor, Bruce Harrell, will implement these suggestions is unclear. On the marketing campaign path, Harrell stated he understood the necessity for alternate options to policing but additionally pledged to reinforce the division’s presence throughout the metropolis.