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Content current as of 04/18/25

Alternative Response

We began work on developing new Alternative Response services in 2021 to enhance and expand on the traditional police and fire responses to public safety, with the goal of connecting more people with the right services at the right time.

There are currently three Alternative Response Programs that are operational and delivering services to the community today, and they focus on three areas that compliment traditional emergency response services. 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, the Tacoma Police Department (TPD) launched the unarmed Community Service Officer program 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.

Alternative Response Outcomes

In December 2024, City staff presented their quarterly update to the City Council on the progress of implementing each of the three Alternative Response areas. In sum:

  • In 2024 up through November 30, the HEAL Team has made almost 2,800 contacts with individuals experiencing homelessness. About 600 of those contacts were made since the last quarterly report in September. Of those contacted in 2024, 1038 (37%) accepted services, and 303 (11%) entered the resource system—276 were placed in shelter, 12 entered a detox program, and 15 were connected to TFD’s HOPE Team.
  • In 2024 up through December 1, HOPE Team crews made more than 1,800 contacts with roughly 550 individual community members. Of those 1,800 contacts, about 600 contacts were made from dispatches, with the other 1,000+ being case management contacts, referral contacts, or other follow-up and outreach contacts.
  • In the first six months of Community Service Officers (CSOs) operation, CSOs responded to nearly 800 calls for service. Of those service calls, more than 200 were from contacts made at police substations, with the other 500+ were from community members reporting non-emergency lower priority calls.  There are currently five trained CSOs operating in the field.

Frequently Asked Questions

The three alternative response programs are budgeted for 2025-26 with funding to continue at their current service and staffing levels. The 2025-26 Biennial Budget (two years) for the three programs:

  • HEAL Team in the Neighborhood and Community Services Dept. – $1.7 million
  • HOPE Team in the Fire Dept. – $4 million
  • CSOs in the Police Dept. – $3.3 million

The three Alternative Response Programs—HEAL Team, HOPE Team, and CSOs—were established at the City Council’s direction and can be traced back to 2021 recommendations from the 21st Century Policing report and the Matrix Consulting Group report on alternatives to law enforcement responses. Feedback from the Council, community members, key stakeholders, and advocacy groups has consistently informed these efforts, ultimately leading to the expansion and enhancement of the HEAL Team and the establishment of the HOPE Team and CSOs.

The HEAL Team is staffed with eight civilian outreach specialists who respond to requests for contact with unhoused individuals at encampment locations throughout the City. The HEAL team conducts its work cooperatively with law enforcement partners who are part of TPD’s Homeless Outreach Team.

The HEAL Team helps unhoused individuals with referrals to supportive services and shelters throughout Tacoma. Through this work, they gather information from individuals experiencing homelessness on the causes of homelessness and effective solutions, which in turn helps inform the City’s Homelessness Strategy. The HEAL team also monitors cleanup of homeless encampments in collaboration with other City departments and contracted vendors.

The HOPE Team provides a specialized response to behavioral health calls that come through the emergency response system (911 calls). The HOPE Team responds to calls in a team of two—a registered nurse and a mental health professional. The HOPE Team also includes one case manager.

HOPE Team provides additional support to traditional Fire/EMS teams and police teams. HOPE Team services are specifically designed to effectively engage with people impacted by behavioral health, mental health, substance use, and co-occurring disorders. HOPE Team staff have more flexibility to stay on-scene and take additional time to engage with clients and assist them with stabilization—things like de-escalation, safety planning, risk assessment, connection to resources or treatment options, or non-emergency transportation in some cases.

Community Service Officers (CSOs) are unarmed TPD staff members who respond to calls for service that are incidents not in progress, that are routine in nature, or that pose no immediate threat. Some examples of this work include assisting with traffic control, meeting community members to assist with filing crime reports, and providing resources to community members. CSOs do not have arrest authority beyond that granted by state law to any private resident and do not carry or possess a firearm while performing their official duties.

While cost savings and service efficiencies will certainly be evaluated as these programs develop more fully and as we gather more performance data, the primary goal of introducing these alternative response programs is to connect more people with the right services at the right time, whether it is an urgent behavioral health situation, non-emergency police call, or an issue related to homelessness. That means City leaders are primarily interested in whether these alternative response services allow traditional first responders like firefighters, EMTs, and police officers to focus more on their core response functions.

In short, the primary goal of introducing these Alternative Response Programs is more focused on enhancing the City’s overall public safety service delivery and getting better outcomes for the community’s public safety concerns as opposed to primarily seeking cost savings.

While aspects like cost savings and service-delivery efficiencies are top-of-mind, the primary goal of introducing these Alternative Response Programs is, again, to connect more people with the right resources at the right time—getting someone experiencing homelessness into shelter or housing, getting someone into substance use treatment, helping someone promptly with reporting a crime, or connecting someone with outpatient behavioral or mental health treatment are just a few examples.

At this time, no. A caller can certainly make a request for specific resources or response teams, but the decision about which teams are dispatched to your specific call is made by trained expert dispatchers at South Sound 911, the Tacoma Fire Communications Center, other public safety dispatchers, or by the expert first responders in the field.

Dial 911 for emergencies, including when a person appears to be an immediate danger to themselves or others, or if they appear seriously ill or disabled.

  • If you or someone you know is experiencing a behavioral health crisis (a non-life-threatening but urgent behavioral health need), call the Regional Crisis line for in-person support at 1-800-576-7764. For support over the phone, text or call 988.
  • Call (253) 287-4455 for the Tacoma Police non-emergency call center.
  • Report a crime online at TPD’s Report a Crime web page.
  • Call Tacoma FIRST 311 to report an unauthorized encampment, littering or illegal dumping, abandoned vehicles, or to request one of dozens of other City services. You can also file a 311 report or request for service online at Tacoma FIRST 311, or by downloading the Tacoma FIRST 311 app for Apple or Android.