The first big outlay from Mayor Jenny Durkan’s $30 million Equitable Communities Initiative will address public safety in BIPOC communities. Meanwhile, the mayor’s office says Durkan is set to unveil a new plan for how it responds to some 911 calls in the city as part of efforts to “reimagine policing and community safety.”

Friday, Durkan is set to unveil the planned creation of “a new specialized triage response program” to provide “an alternative model for some 911 calls.”

“Analyzing the data of 9-1-1 calls and recognizing the hiring challenges of sworn officers facing the Seattle Police Department, Mayor Durkan, SPD, SFD, and CSCC are proposing a series of plans to maintain 9-1-1 response while reducing the need for a sworn officer response in some calls,” the Durkan administration announcement reads.

Earlier this week, Durkan’s office announced $10.4 million in one-time funding for 18 months for 33 organizations “working toward community-led solutions to end violence and increase safety in Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities.”

“These investments will support organizations providing an array of programs, services, and upstream investments meant to improve outcomes and contribute to overall community safety and wellbeing,” the Durkan administration announcement reads.

Part of Durkan’s “$100 million pledge” to Black Lives Matter movement in Seattle made during last year’s protests, CHS reported here on a rush to move forward on the $30 million Equitable Communities Initiative as her term winds down at the end of this year. The Durkan administration says its commitment to equity will continue even as Mayor Durkan is ready to step aside. Her last budget proposal, the office says, will include another $100 million its proposed 2022 budget “to further address systemic inequities facing BIPOC communities.”

The Durkan announcement says the funded organizations “span a range of services and focus areas, with some agencies receiving City funds for the first time and other programs expanding existing services.” The city’s Human Services Department received over 70 applications for the funding, totaling $40 million in requested funds. “Many proposals also aligned with other City of Seattle programs and investments focused on food security, education, homelessness, and re-entry,” according to the announcement.

The mayor’s office, meanwhile, says the new 911 program would be an expansion of the Community Service Officer Program. CHS reported here on the 2016 revival of the program creating a force of unarmed officers to “handle non-emergency incidents such as neighborhood disputes, investigations, and crime prevention.”

A New York City pilot program that dispatches social workers instead of cops for 911 calls for mental health crises is reducing unnecessary hospitalizations, while increasing the percentage of people who accept help, officials say.

As for the $10.4 million in funding, 33 organizations will be awarded funding ranging between $123,068 to $585,410 per group. Services provided by the organizations include “activating neighborhood-based strategies to reduce crime rates at hotspots,” “de-escalation support in response to shots fired,” re-entry services, case management, “community awareness about disproportionality in criminal legal services,”  “family support to prevent youth from entering the criminal legal system,” and “supports to address family and gender-based violence.”

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