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Public Safety

News and interviews about public and community safety on Hacks & Wonks

Evan Thompkins, STAR Program Specialist, and Stephanie Van Jacobs, Program Manager at WellPower

Denver's STAR Program Offers Promising Alternative Response to Mental Health and Substance Use Crises

Evan Thompkins and Stephanie Van Jacobs discuss the Denver STAR program, an alternative 911 response model that pairs behavioral health clinicians with EMTs/paramedics. They highlight how STAR provides support for individuals experiencing mental health, substance use, or other non-violent crises.

Eleuthera Lisch, Director of King County Regional Office of Gun Violence Prevention

King County's Community-Led Approach Showing Promise in Combating Gun Violence

King County shows promise curbing youth gun violence using community-based approach with violence interrupters. Early data indicates fewer youth involved in shootings, fewer re-hospitalizations after gun injuries, less shoplifting near outreach, and 400+ high-risk youth mentored.

Amy Sundberg and BJ Last from Solidarity Budget

Seattle Considers Controversial Surveillance Technologies with Flawed Approval Process

Seattle's rushed approval process for intrusive surveillance technologies is discussed in a recent interview on the Hacks & Wonks podcast guest hosted by Dr. Shannon Cheng, with Amy Sundberg and BJ Last from Solidarity Budget

Regional Crisis Response Executive Director Brook Buettner and Kenmore Mayor Nigel Herbig

Five North King County Cities Launch Collaborative Crisis Response Program

Kenmore Mayor Nigel Herbig and Regional Crisis Response Executive Director Brook Buettner discuss a new collaborative mental health crisis response program in North King County that provides an alternative to traditional police response and aims to achieve better outcomes for individuals in crisis.