That’s after drug possession arrests and charges climbed last year under the city’s two-year-old ordinance.

Supporters of “diversion” away from courts and jail call it a hopeful moment. Skeptics worry that the city’s so-called “hot spots” for drug use and disorder will continue to suffer.

When Seattle police arrest someone at the hot spot of 12th Ave and South Jackson St. for public drug use, they may take the person to the East Precinct and release them into the care of Rheana Dale.

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Dale knows what to say once the handcuffs come off: “It’s not a good day today, I know it’s not,” Dale tells the person. “Here’s a cigarette, here’s a snack, friend. Tell me what’s going on, how did we get here and how can we make it better?"

Dale is a screening and outreach coordinator with REACH, the nonprofit service provider for the city’s Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion program. Staff recently started doing what they call “field intakes” — on-the-spot enrollments, because most of these arrestees are homeless and may not make an appointment to do it later.

“It’s better if we do it right here and now,” Dale said. “You’re in the program, we’ve done the intake, you can go about your life, and come find me and we can do services.”

Stepping outside LEAD’s Capitol Hill office one day earlier this month, Dale runs into a client named J.L. The man suffers from mental illness and told the government he’s wealthy — meanwhile, Dale is trying to help him get the disability income he’s probably entitled to.

J.L. tells Dale how grateful he is that his shoplifting charge was recently dismissed — Dale said he was found incompetent to stand trial. A recent triumph was helping him obtain housing.

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“It was years before his case manager before me was able to secure him housing,” Dale said. “He just got into his place in November of last year, and before that had been outside for 10-plus years.”

LEAD notes that the vast majority of drug possession cases are already being diverted from prosecution; it is currently working to keep about 900 Seattle clients out of courts and jail.

And the last city election is leaving supporters feeling hopeful. The program’s founder Lisa Daugaard has taken a six-month leave of absence from her nonprofit to work on public safety issues for Mayor Katie Wilson’s administration.

caption: Erika Evans, Seattle's soon-to-be city attorney, photographed at KUOW's studios in Seattle on Nov. 21, 2025.Enlarge Icon

Erika Evans, Seattle's soon-to-be city attorney, photographed at KUOW's studios in Seattle on Nov. 21, 2025.

KUOW / Juan Pablo Chiquiza

And after the King County Department of Public Defense reported that the city’s 215 drug charges since the ordinance was enacted in 2023 were rarely resulting in treatment, the new City Attorney Erika Evans said she’ll divert cases away from prosecution whenever possible. Evans said she’ll focus on treatment for those she does charge.

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RELATED: Seattle’s incoming city attorney Erika Evans promises vigilance on federal interference

“The last few years having 90% of people not getting treatment who come into this office is not accountability,” Evans said. “So we are going to improve those numbers — that is a priority of this administration.”

LEAD had to curtail some outreach and police training last year due to loss of one-time funding — but it now has an additional $2 million for a total of $16 million this year, thanks to the .1% public safety sales tax proposed by former mayor Bruce Harrell.

In a recent podcast, Seattle Police Officers Guild President Mike Solan took a dim view of the renewed emphasis on diversion.

“There’s not going to be any accountability for the offenders on the street who are consuming narcotics in front of you and your family,” he said.

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caption: A crowd of people is gathered on the sidewalk outside of Lam’s Seafood Market across from Hao Mai Park on Thursday, March 20, 2025, in Seattle’s Little Saigon neighborhood. Enlarge Icon

A crowd of people is gathered on the sidewalk outside of Lam’s Seafood Market across from Hao Mai Park on Thursday, March 20, 2025, in Seattle’s Little Saigon neighborhood.

KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer

But Brandi McNeil, deputy director at Purpose Dignity Action, which oversees LEAD, said police officers still have a voice in whether someone gets charged or diverted to services.

“It is critical to the success of the program that officers that are out on the street, who are seeing folks every day, who are responding to calls every day retain their discretion to be able to say what makes the most sense and what doesn’t,” McNeil said.

LEAD said last year its clients made more than 2,000 connections with programs to address substance use. That can include embarking on treatment programs, medication, and Narcotics Anonymous.

Former King County Sheriff Sue Rahr served as interim police chief in Seattle in 2024. She said during that time she saw improvements to drug hot spots especially downtown — and urgency among most Seattle police officers to help people on the streets. But Rahr said most officers didn’t see diversion as likely to interrupt addiction’s vicious cycles.

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“There is a need, I believe, to take people into physical custody so they can be stabilized long enough to exercise their personal autonomy to make a good decision, not a decision that is driven by addiction,” she said. “And then you have organized retail theft and other predators that want people to stay addicted, because that’s their workforce.”

Rahr said she hopes city leaders consider a broad array of responses to public drug use.

Current Seattle Police Chief Shon Barnes said he’s hearing fears about street disorder potentially increasing. He emphasized that many types of crime are down, and SPD officers have not stopped arresting people for public drug use.

“What I will tell my officers and what I’ve told them, to be very specific, is that when we have probable cause and we have aggravating factors, our officers will make the arrest,” Barnes said. He said those factors include: accosting community members, refusing to leave a private business, and carrying or brandishing a weapon.

caption: Seattle’s Little Saigon neighborhood is shown as the sun goes down on Thursday, March 20, 2025, in Seattle. Enlarge Icon

Seattle’s Little Saigon neighborhood is shown as the sun goes down on Thursday, March 20, 2025, in Seattle.

KUOW Photo/Megan Farmer

When it comes to addressing hot spots for drug use like the Little Saigon neighborhood at 12th Avenue and South Jackson Street, Barnes said some solutions go beyond policing, but he’ll continue to collaborate with other agencies to pursue improved lighting or demolish vacant buildings.

“And that’s what we’re going to do, we’re going to put together what I call a ‘whole of government’ approach to some of these particular areas,” he said. “But more importantly — and what people ask for more than anything else — is consistency,” rather than one-time resources.

Barnes said he submitted an emergency petition to demolish the vacant building which hosted a “navigation center” for homeless services starting in 2017. The Seattle Indian Services Commission plans to build a new development there to include housing, childcare, and a cultural event space where the building named for activist and leader Pearl Warren (of the Makah Tribe) has stood.

Barnes said enforcement of drug dealing remains a priority; he said Seattle police built a case against drug traffickers recently that started with a drug possession case in that neighborhood.

The King County Prosecutors office said they filed 281 cases last year where drug dealing was the most serious charge, the highest number in the past four years.

Barnes said he expects that the 165 officers hired last year will add more presence at these hot spots, like the Chinatown-International District.

With the additional funding, LEAD is staffing up, too. Outreach coordinator Rheana Dale said on-call staff use a dedicated phone to connect with police called “the greenlight phone” to make arrest diversions. And Dale expects it to be ringing pretty frequently this year.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5825042&forum_id=2\u0026show=posted#49608919)

"vamos a diversion"

"woooooo"

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5825042&forum_id=2\u0026show=posted#49608960)