Seattle mayor proposes police agreement to expand park ranger program, improve officer availability

SEATTLE — Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell and five city councilmembers on Wednesday announced a proposal they say would expand the boundaries of the park ranger program and make special event staffing and overall police availability stronger.

The proposed memorandum of understanding would:

• Support the launch of the Community Assisted Response and Engagement (CARE) department’s Dual Dispatch Pilot, which allows new teams specialized in helping people in crisis to be dispatched alongside Seattle Police officers. Calls eligible for a CARE response include some welfare checks, and others that are non-violent and non-medical. The goal is to free up critical first responders such as police officers and firefighters.
• Allow park rangers to serve in all parks across Seattle and increase park safety. This would replace a current agreement that limits rangers to only Downtown Seattle parks.

“Under Mayor Harrell and the City Council’s Park District renewal, the park ranger program was significantly expanded, with 26 park rangers hired this year providing safety, activation, and support for Seattle park-goers,” a news release from the city said.

• Improve the availability of officers across the city and improve staffing at special events through a new special events staffing system. The system gives officers who volunteer to staff special events a $225 flat premium per shift. Unfilled positions like parking enforcement can be staffed by employees who are not officers.

“This new system will apply to tier 1, 2, and 3 special events, which range from the Torchlight Parade and professional sports games to smaller community-based celebrations,” the release said.

Seattle City Council President Debora Juarez, and councilmembers Lisa Herbold, Alex Pedersen, Dan Strauss, and Andrew Lewis support the proposal.

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