Seattle News, Views, and Brews
Jul 15, 2026 · 28 min · 13 segments
Learn about the latest in local public affairs in about the time it takes for a coffee break! Brian Callanan of Seattle Channel and…
Brian CallananHost
Okay, so the Seattle City Council's Public Safety Committee is considering an update to its drug possession and public drug use law this week.
It appeared that the council was cracking down on drug use, though the law did specify that diversion and treatment and other alternatives to booking were the preferred approach when enforcing those crimes.
Law enforcement assisted diversion, you'll hear it called LEED sometimes, down 30 percent.
So now, David, the city wants to further specify in its law that the preferred approach is pre-booking diversion to be done in the field by officers.
Yeah, I mean, I think part of it is that there's just there's a lot of discretion given to officers right now and i think what they're trying to do here is make it so that it is formal spd policy that
preferred approach is some kind of diversion i also think that the language around in the field of warm handoffs is important because the implication there is if you just kind of give somebody a card and say okay here's here's lead, go and find them.
And there's not any guarantee that those people actually seek out those services.
And so this is saying the preferred approach is that not only are you going to diversion, but you are actually passing that person off to somebody who works for a lead or an outreach
They have to report a little more stringently on outcomes and what actually happens with those people afterwards.
The diversion piece is written into the drug ordinance law, but I think there is some question, not to say that it's not effective, but not as much insight into exactly what is happening after that diversion as maybe City Hall would like.
But I think the thought behind this is, A, by having this warm handoff piece, you are actually having somebody who's guaranteeing that they are making a connection to it.
And then with the data piece, the hope, I think, is you have maybe a little more follow-up and information on what actually came of it.
Yeah, I heard in that meeting, too, that the data coming from LEED is fairly robust, and there have been some good situations there where people have gone through on the handoff and gotten the services they need.
But there are other agencies, too, connected with it that might not have as robust a data system.
Okay, so the Seattle City Council's Public Safety Committee is considering an update to its drug possession and public drug use law this week.
It appeared that the council was cracking down on drug use, though the law did specify that diversion and treatment and other alternatives to booking were the preferred approach when enforcing those crimes.
Law enforcement assisted diversion, you'll hear it called LEED sometimes, down 30 percent.
So now, David, the city wants to further specify in its law that the preferred approach is pre-booking diversion to be done in the field by officers.
Yeah, I mean, I think part of it is that there's just there's a lot of discretion given to officers right now and i think what they're trying to do here is make it so that it is formal spd policy that
preferred approach is some kind of diversion i also think that the language around in the field of warm handoffs is important because the implication there is if you just kind of give somebody a card and say okay here's here's lead, go and find them.
And there's not any guarantee that those people actually seek out those services.
And so this is saying the preferred approach is that not only are you going to diversion, but you are actually passing that person off to somebody who works for a lead or an outreach
They have to report a little more stringently on outcomes and what actually happens with those people afterwards.
The diversion piece is written into the drug ordinance law, but I think there is some question, not to say that it's not effective, but not as much insight into exactly what is happening after that diversion as maybe City Hall would like.
But I think the thought behind this is, A, by having this warm handoff piece, you are actually having somebody who's guaranteeing that they are making a connection to it.
And then with the data piece, the hope, I think, is you have maybe a little more follow-up and information on what actually came of it.
Yeah, I heard in that meeting, too, that the data coming from LEED is fairly robust, and there have been some good situations there where people have gone through on the handoff and gotten the services they need.
But there are other agencies, too, connected with it that might not have as robust a data system.
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