I’m assuming you’re referring to HB1310 and the contention that the police can’t respond even though that’s not written into the law. As the author of the piece I want to clarify that I do think in this case the unintended consequences are good ones, although challenging and timely to implement. In these “community care” situations it is beneficial to all for a better trained, less threatening person to respond first and develop relationships with the victim or person in crisis. The challenge is in implementing these changes. Olympia and Lacey are better prepared than many jurisdictions because they have already taken steps to redesign their public safety system with intervention teams like Olumpia’s Crisis Response Unit and other services.
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