Urban Indian organizations demand removal of Seattle police officers from outreach team supporting homeless
SEATTLE—In a letter sent to Mayor Jenny Durkan, four urban Indian organizations called for the removal of Seattle Police Department (SPD) officers from the City of Seattle’s Navigation Team—a group comprised of outreach workers and SPD personnel, whose goal is to connect unsheltered people to housing and critical resources, while helping address pervasive challenges around the issue of homelessness in Seattle.
Police Chief Carmen Best of the Seattle Police Department was cc’d on the letter, as well as Jason Johnson, acting director of the City of Seattle Human Services Department.
Chief Seattle Club, Mother Nation, Seattle Indian Health Board, and United Indians of All Tribes Foundation, who are all partners in the National Coalition to End Urban Indigenous Homelessness, signed the letter.
“We’ve continued to express that what’s in place is not working and ineffective for our community,” said Colleen Echohawk, executive director of Chief Seattle Club. “Police officers retrigger trauma, which makes our relatives less accepting to services.”
Along with asking for the removal of police officers from the Navigation Team, the organizations also recommend the reallocation of $2.6 million that is assigned for police staffing on the Navigation Team.
“Police officers are not the best suited to respond to our homeless community’s needs,” said Mike Tulee, executive director of United Indians of All Tribes Foundation. “There has always been distrust between the Native community and police officers, and our community looks elsewhere for support when it’s needed.”
The letter also expresses concerns over the presence of law enforcement at encampment removals and the City’s approach to addressing unsheltered homelessness.
“Seattle Indian Health Board’s staff has the misfortune of watching police sweeps outside our office windows that we know is just forcing people from one unsheltered location to another,” said Esther Lucero, CEO of Seattle Indian Health Board. “This is not a solution. There needs to be better opportunities for our relatives experiencing homelessness to live healthier lives.”
The organizations highlight the importance of trainings; funding culturally attuned emergency shelter services and long-term housing models; and access to safe hygiene resources for unsheltered individuals, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We need people on the Navigation Team whose goal is to help our homeless population live better lives,” said Norine Hill, executive director of Mother Nation. “These workers need to understand, better than police officers, what it takes to respond in a culturally appropriate way.”
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Contact:
Patricia Allen-Dick, Liaison
National Coalition to End Urban Indigenous Homelessness
206.507.8995
Download letter to Mayor Jenny Durkan.
For more information about the National Coalition to End Urban Indigenous Homelessness, visit endindigenoushomelessness.org.
*Photo by the Nation