Seattle – Today, Mayor Bruce Harrell celebrated the two-year anniversary of the creation of the Community Assisted Response and Engagement (CARE) department, combining Seattle’s 911 Center with the new Community Crisis Responder (CCR) team. Initially launched as a small team with limited hours and service area, CCRs steadily expanded in size and footprint and have been successfully and safely dispatched to over 6,700 incidents over the past two years as an alternative to a police response. This integrated model pairs call-taking and dispatch with unarmed behavioral health responders, giving Seattle a new way to respond to non-violent crisis calls while preserving police and fire resources for where they are needed most. 

“I’m proud to celebrate two years of the CARE Department and our Community Crisis Responder pilot program, which is now becoming a permanent part of Seattle’s public safety system. CARE represents the fulfillment of our vision for a comprehensive approach to public safety – a third branch working alongside police and fire to ensure every resident receives the right response at the right time,” said Mayor Harrell. “I want to thank Chief Barden and all the dedicated CARE employees for their exceptional work connecting people in crisis with compassionate care and vital services. I look forward to celebrating this department’s continued success for many years to come.” 

Under the new police contract announced by Mayor Harrell earlier this week, there are no longer any limits on how many CARE responders can be hired and they can be solo dispatched to low-acuity emergency calls. Mayor Harrell’s public safety sales tax plan would provide $9.5 million to double the number of CARE Community Crisis Responders (CCR) with 24 new positions in 2026, as well as supervisors, a new training manager, and additional equipment. The expansion will increase the number of CCRs on staff and extend service hours, ensuring more Seattle residents have access to compassionate, effective crisis response. The investment will also add 12 dispatcher and call taker positions to ensure the 911 Center, which has already fielded more than 581,000 calls and texts in 2025, is fully staffed.   

“Today we are significantly closer to achieving the vision of three co-equal departments of first responders, and a Seattle 911 equipped to send the best first response to a call. Philosophically, the police and fire departments represent physical safety and health provision; and the CARE department represents mental and emotional health provision,” said CARE Chief Amy Barden. “All three departments should and must be anchored in a philosophy of rehabilitation. I congratulate the pilot team of CARE responders and express my gratitude to the outstanding professionals in Seattle 911 who have made all this progress possible, who have converted a theory and a dream into reality.” 

The Seattle CARE department represents a new paradigm in public safety, a third City department which works in partnership with police and fire and is focused on helping people in need of behavioral health care. Seattle’s unique approach to diversified emergency response is designed to connect people in crisis with help and free up police resources to answer the calls where they’re needed most. CARE’s model and practices were highlighted by the National League of Cities as a case study of the “Community Response Model” as part of their Reimagining Public Safety Initiative. 

Since launching in late 2023 as a limited pilot of six responders focused on Downtown and the Chinatown-International District, the CCR program has steadily expanded and demonstrated strong results. In 2024, the pilot expanded to additional neighborhoods and seven days a week with 10 additional responders. In early 2025, it added more CCRs and expanded citywide, responding to more than 5,000 incidents citywide. Today, CCRs operate citywide seven days a week to ensure reliable response times and the ability to surge resources to emerging needs in partnership with 9-1-1.  

CARE recently launched a digital dashboard, enabling the public to view data from 2024 to date, showing call volume by precinct, the busiest times of day for Community Crisis Responders and most frequent call types. 

What People Are Saying 

Charlotte Joseph, Deputy Chief CARE 

“Seattle 9-1-1 is extremely grateful for the opportunity to work collaboratively with our public safety partners at SPD, SFD, and the Community Crisis Responders with the goal of providing the community with the best first response. The work done in 9-1-1 is essential to the public safety ecosystem. We remain dedicated to employee development, as we focus on enhancing skillsets and knowledge about the alternative response options and best practices within public safety.” 

Catriana Hernandez, CARE Crisis Response Manager 

“We are beyond excited to celebrate our two-year anniversary. It was no small feat in standing up a new program. This has only been made possible through our partnership with local government, public safety, and community services. They have tirelessly supported our emerging nationwide vision of a more holistic, adaptable, and data-driven approach to mental health emergencies” 

The City of Seattle has reached a new collective bargaining agreement with the Seattle Police Officers Guild (SPOG), which represents all Seattle police officers.

Under the agreement, police officers will receive a retroactive pay increase of 6% for 2024 and 4.1% for 2025. Officers will get an additional 2.7% increase in 2026, and the 2027 increase will range from 3% to 4%, depending on the Consumer Price Index.

“This contract supports our officers’ work to address crime and delivers on our promise to create a comprehensive, diversified public safety system that protects every neighborhood in Seattle,” Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell said.

Harrell said the contract also strengthens police accountability by allowing civilian investigators to work on cases involving potential termination, and streamlines disciplinary processes to address misconduct swiftly and appropriately.

“The agreement modernizes our wages and keeps benefits high so that we can, of course, maintain a well-staffed police department, which translates to public safety for everyone,” Seattle Police Chief Shawn Barnes said. “I commend Mayor Harrell for his tireless dedication in securing a collective bargaining agreement that not only strengthens support for our officers but also enhances public safety in Seattle. 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.”

Major changes for Seattle’s CARE department

The agreement was ratified by SPOG members last weekend and makes big changes to the Community Assisted Response and Engagement (CARE) department. It is now elevated from a pilot program started in 2023 to a permanent part of public safety in Seattle, on par with the police and fire departments. It also removes limits on its number of employees, allowing for the expansion and direct dispatch of CARE crisis responders for those experiencing a behavioral health crisis, due in part to homelessness, mental illness, and addiction.

“This expanded agreement between the City and SPOG is the most significant milestone since the CARE responder pilot launched two years ago, and I commend Mayor Harrell for keeping diversified response a top and unequivocal priority,” CARE Chief Amy Barton stated. “Going forward, we will finally be able to predictably and consistently send the best first response to a 911 call — something our community has demanded and deserves. Further, law enforcement officers can now be significantly freed up to respond to high-priority police calls.”

Harrell said the money for the officers and the expansion of the CARE department will require no new money, as it has already been worked into the budget.

Follow James Lynch on X. Read more of his stories here. Submit news tips here.

Follow @James_KIRORadio

Big games allow for lasting memories. Fans will forever remember this Seattle Mariners postseason run. Cal’s historic moments. The long wait rewarded in Game 5 against Detroit. The thrill of the first two wins in Toronto. And Geno’s grand slam, which put them in position to go farther than ever before.

Drayer: Where the Mariners are left after falling short of World Series

No one can take those memories away. They were real and they were spectacular. But, unfortunately, they will be superseded by the nightmare of George Springer’s prodigious blast, which ended this season before the ultimate goal could be reached.

The Mariners aren’t the first team to experience this kind of heartache. And, in fact, Seattle fans wouldn’t need to press too hard to remember a similar feeling.

The 2012 Seahawks seemingly came out of nowhere. Their ferocious defense was just starting to show what it could do and their rookie quarterback wasn’t generating a lot of respect. But the young members of the Legion of Boom and an offense keyed by Russell Wilson and Marshawn Lynch were hitting on all cylinders by the time the playoffs rolled around. Their December was very similar to what the Mariners just did in September; they won five straight games with three massive blowouts.

After dispatching with Robert Griffin III and Washington in the wild card round, the Seahawks were poised to beat the Falcons in epic fashion. Marshawn scored from the 2-yard line and the team was 31 seconds away from going to the NFC Championship Game.

We all know what happened next. The summer started early, the Niners went to the Super Bowl, and the Hawks spent the offseason trying (and eventually succeeding) to get to the next level.

In my own sports fandom, this one for the Mariners felt a lot like the 2003 Red Sox who lost Game 7 in Yankee Stadium after manager Grady Little left Pedro Martinez in way too long, and Aaron Boone walked it off a few innings later with a home run that I remember shutting off before it ever left the yard.

In fact, this one was even more similar because of the questions regarding the in-game decision making. Little was somewhat similar to Mariners manager Dan Wilson, a well-liked skipper who brought together people in the clubhouse and empowered them to succeed, but with some questions regarding his strategic decision making and comfort with the then-burgeoning field of analytical data.

Seattle Mariners’ Dan Wilson backs Game 7 bullpen decision

Both losses for the Seahawks and Red Sox were excruciating. Both felt a little like the end of the world and a little like the potential beginning of a new era. And both teams won championships the next season.

So can the 2026 Mariners be the 2004 Red Sox or 2013 Seahawks? That depends on them.

After the loss in Atlanta, the Seahawks went out and got Cliff Avril and Michael Bennett to augment their already impressive pass rush led by Chris Clemons and Bruce Irvin. The new duo combined for 16.5 sacks in the regular season and added three more in the playoffs. The numbers were great, but the personality, depth and intensity they brought to the team may have mattered even more. Signing them both in the offseason was the ultimate signal of belief from the front office to the players.

After 2003, the Red Sox hired Terry Francona as manager and acquired Curt Schilling. The former won them two titles and is now widely considered among the best managers of his era, and the latter won 21 games before becoming a postseason hero. Both were renowned for the leadership and dogged determination that helped break an 86-year curse just 12 months after that disastrous night in the Bronx.

As a fan of both teams in those moments, I can tell you the sting was similar. No Seahawks fan nor Red Sox fan at that time could tell you about seeing their team hoist a trophy. But a year later, I believe many (if not most) would say the victories tasted even sweeter after the horrible endings that preceded them. They would also say the organizations recognized how close they were to being at a championship level and made the moves to get themselves over the top.

The 2026 Mariners have some big decisions to make. As of today, Josh Naylor, Eugenio Suárez and Jorge Polanco (if he wants) are all free agents. As of today, the combined salary of the two Mitches (some $28 million) comes off the books as well. I think every single Mariners fan alive would prioritize signing Naylor. But there are lots of questions that follow.

Is J.P. Crawford back for the last year of his deal? What are you going to do in right field where Victor Robles never got untracked and Dom Canzone flashed in the season but fell flat in the playoffs? When will Colt Emerson be ready? Polanco is going to get a serious raise – do you want to be the one to pay him for his age 32 season and beyond? Are Cole Young and Ben Williamson ready to play every day at second and third base?

And do you have enough pitching? Improbably, it was that, the team’s greatest strength, that most fell apart in October.

The 2013 Seahawks and 2004 Red Sox are the models. But there is also a cautionary tale.

The 2016 Baltimore Orioles won 89 games, finished second in the AL East, but lost in a dramatic wild card game. Tied in the 11th inning, Toronto’s Edwin Encarnación took Ubaldo Jiménez deep while the O’s best pitcher, reliever Zach Britton, never entered that game. Sound familiar?

The following offseason, they did next to nothing. They re-signed Mark Trumbo (yikes), traded for Seth Smith, and that was about it. Not surprisingly, 2017 did not end well. The Orioles finished 75-87, dead last in the AL East.

Let me be clear, the M’s team we just watched is a whole lot closer to the Seahawks and Red Sox than to the Orioles. They have more talent, a better farm system, a younger roster and more opportunities ahead of them. They will take a few weeks to decompress, self-scout, and start to plan for next year. And hopefully this will be, as ESPN’s Jeff Passan said this week, more of a beginning than an ending.

It is entirely up to them.

More on the Seattle Mariners

• Passan: Mariners’ playoff run ‘a beginning, not an end’
• Mariners’ Cal Raleigh breaks one last record with 65th HR of 2025
• The real reason M’s lost ALCS is about more than a pitching change
• Morosi: Two decisions stand out from Mariners’ Game 7 loss
• What They Said: Seattle Mariners after losing ALCS Game 7

Follow @themikesalk