- Thanks to Mike!
- Officer David Hockett will warm you up.
Beginning on Sunday night, when temperatures dipped below freezing and the city readied its emergency response plan for Monday’s snowy forecast, the Seattle Police Department was preparing outreach of its own, in the form of a blue-and-white SPD van outfitted to give homeless people a free ride to one of Seattle’s emergency shelters.
“Our concern is that homeless people out on the streets may not have access to phones or the news,” says Sgt. Paul Gracy, who’s driven the so-called cold weather outreach wagon, along with four other officers, since the program began four years ago. “They may not know there’s a cold front coming in or where the emergency shelters are.”
So at 9:00 p.m. each night, SPD officers drive the cold-weather wagon around the downtown core to locations they know people camp at, contacts the people they find, and asks if they would like a ride to a shelter. “Most people are polite and courteous when we approach them,” says Gracy. “We’re just checking to make sure they’re okay—that they’re breathing, that they don’t have frostbite and they’re cognizant, and then to see if they want a ride someplace warm.”
The van can hold up to 15 people and their belongings, including shopping carts. But Gracy says that some homeless people are undeniably weary of jumping into a SPD van and taken for a ride. On Sunday night, a quarter of the 68 people officers contacted accepted a ride to a shelter; last night, roughly one-fifth of the 58 people contacted got in the van. “If they don’t want to go, we leave them alone,” says Gracy. “We don’t force anyone to move unless they’re on private property and we’ve been contacted by the owner.” He adds that many homeless people declined the ride because they said the emergency shelter kicked them out too early—at 4:45 a.m.—so SPD relayed this concern to the mayor’s office. “They’re now extending emergency shelter hours until 6:00 a.m.,” says Gracy.
The van will be deployed tonight from 9:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m., with sandwiches to give out. SPD patrol officers citywide have also been instructed to ask homeless people they encounter if they need a ride to an emergency shelter.
This is definitely a step up from shooting them.
This is why Seattle is still a cool city.
Excellent. I’m sure the SPD appreciate the extra PR here too. Good job guys.
Oh god, Cienna, there’s a world of difference between “wary” and “weary.”
@1 Hah! Nice.
Oh TVDinner you made me laugh.
Good job, cops.
And kicked out at 4:45am? Damn! I lved in a shelter for a while, and we didn’t get woken until 7am. What’s the deal with that?
The shelters shouldn’t start kicking people out until 9am! That’s crazy! They can’t go camp out at the library or other warm, public buildings until 9. That’s insane.
One of the many reasons why we pay taxes. Keep up the good work.
In other news, Michael Vick lectured school children on animal…OK OK OK. I just want to hug Michael Vick and SPD right now. I’m not even being facetious. Do this shit! it makes oyu feel great! This is love, baby! Do this! Get hooked on it!
OK on the note of the guy shooting them dude shut your cock holster unless you know what can happen in 1.7 seconds at the distance the suspect was at. it only takes about 1.7 seconds to reach someone from approx. 20 feet add about .3 seconds to open the knife and you now have 2 seconds to either shoot or get stabbed. So please educate yourself and respect the police. They have to not only watch our backs but they have to watch their own because no one is trusted now. 1 more thing please everyone stop this damned which hunt of the police you only hurt our communities by attacking the police it makes them not want to help us when they are being attacked on the news and so forth.
“… SPD officers drive the cold-weather wagon around the downtown core to locations they know people camp at, contacts the people they find, and asks if they would like a ride to a shelter.” Maybe someone needs a referesher on subject-verb agreement? Come on!
Wow, where did all the dickish people come from?
Great. This is the way it should be.
@13: Yeah, serious! With edits and re-edits of longer sentences, that kind of stuff gets lost in the shuffle. It’s not, like, appalling or anything.