The City of Tacoma remains committed to implementing alternative response changes and enhancements aligned with the 2021 Matrix Study to the extent they are feasible and subject to collective bargaining. Our alternative response efforts are focused on three areas: Homelessness Outreach, Behavioral Health Response, and unarmed Community Service Officers. 

• Homelessness Outreach
  The Homeless Engagement and Alternatives (HEAL) Team has been fully staffed with eight team members since September 2023. The HEAL Team helps unhoused individuals with referrals to supportive services and shelters throughout Tacoma. The HEAL team also monitors cleanup of homeless encampments in collaboration with other City departments and contracted vendors. Learn more about the City’s efforts to address homelessness.
  
  
• Behavioral Health Response Team
  In September 2023, the City of Tacoma Fire Department (TFD) established a new behavioral health response team to support community members experiencing behavioral health crisis. This team is designed to effectively engage with people impacted by behavioral health, mental health, substance use, and co-occurring disorders. Known as the HOPE Team – which stands for Holistic Outreach Promoting Engagement – this service will be 911 dispatched and work in coordination with community providers, hospitals, jails, courts, and first responders.

• Community Service Officers
  In June 2024, TPD launched the unarmed Community Service Officer program within the Tacoma Police Department (TPD) to respond to a wide range of non-violent, non-emergency, and low-risk calls. This team is centered around providing a holistic approach to community safety that decreases both priority and non-priority call response times and enhances the police department’s responsiveness to community needs. There are currently five CSOs working in the field to assist community members with their safety needs. Learn more at TPD's Policing Accountability & Transparency web page, Point No. 9. 

More to Explore:

• Tacoma’s Alternative Response Programs: FAQs - Updated December 2024

• December 17, 2024 NEWS: City of Tacoma's HEAL Team Continues to See Progress in Ongoing Efforts to Address Homelessness

• December 17, 2024 NEWS: Tacoma Police Department's Community Service Officer Program Advances Alternative Response Strategy

View additional reports, presentations, and materials on Alternative Response efforts:

• December 17, 2024 - Study Session Presentation Alternative Response Quarter 4 Update (video, start at 59:51)
• September 17, 2024 - Study Session Presentation Alternative Response Quarter 3 Update
• June 18, 2024 - Study Session Presentation Alternative Response Quarter 2 Update
• June 6, 2024 – City Manager’s Weekly Report, Community Service Officers Update
• March 19, 2024 - Study Session Presentation Alternative Response Quarter 1 Update
• December 19, 2023 - Study Session presentation Alternative Response Quarter 4 Update
• December 7, 2023 – City Manager’s Weekly Report, Community Service Officers Update
• September 19, 2023 - Study Session presentation Alternative Response Quarter 3 Update
• August 24, 2023 - City Manager's Weekly Report, Community Service Officers Update
• August 10, 2023 - City Manager's Weekly Report, HOPE Team Update
• July 6, 2023 - City Manager's Weekly Report, HOPE Team Update
• June 13, 2023 - Study Session presentation Alternative Response Quarter 2 Update
• March 21, 2023 - Study Session presentation Alternative Response Quarterly Update
• November 21, 2022 - City Council Meeting with Passage of the 2023-2024 Budget
• November 15, 2022 - City Council Meeting with First Reading of the Budget
• October 18, 2022 - Study Session presentation of the Fire Department and Neighborhood and Community Services Department Budgets
• October 4, 2022 – Study Session presentation of the City Manager’s Proposed Budget (Slides 32 and 41)
• September 22, 2022 – Update and Overview of Alternative Response in the City of Tacoma
• June 21, 2022 – City Manager’s Report Update to Council on Mental and Behavioral Health CT
• February 24, 2022 – Memo from Consultant Brian Maxey of 21^st Century Policing
• May 21, 2021 – Matrix Consulting Group Report on Alternative Response Study
• March 2021 – 21^st Century Policing Report

Does the City of Tacoma have an Office of Community Safety? 

The short answer is no.

In alignment with Resolution No. 40622, start-up funding for an Office of Community Safety was included as a placeholder in the City’s 2021-2022 Budget. This funding was intended to allow the City to be responsive to a broader definition of community safety and support the implementation of community-identified transformational initiatives. The City has actively taken on transformation, including many of the recommendations within the 21st Century Policing Report, without establishing a new office.

Going forward, the creation of a Community Safety Action Strategy is now underway. The community will be invited to provide their feedback and insights as part of the planning process. Once completed, this will strategically guide the City’s work in this important area, and the City Manager will determine what staffing, structures, and resources are necessary to support the Community Safety Action Strategy. 

The Office of Community Safety remains a viable option to be activated as needed in response to the community and city administrative needs as we continue to advance transformational efforts within the City of Tacoma.