How Seattle restaurants are finding alternatives to calling the police to deal with a disturbance
opened in the Chinatown-International District, co-owners Chera Amlag and Geo Quibuyen wanted to have a frank discussion with their staff about handling potential conflicts. In that neighborhood and others downtown, people experiencing housing insecurity or going through a mental health crisis often look to restaurants for brief shelter or a place to get some food or a cup of coffee.
But Hood Famous looked to find a different solution that would still keep its customers and employees safe. One with more empathy and understanding for a neighborhood where raids on homeless encampments are common, and policing can be antagonistic. “We wanted to be really thoughtful and responsible as business owners in a district that we love,” Amlag tells Eater Seattle. “Is there something that we can do — as citizens, as individuals, as people who care about our community — prior to calling the cops?”
So Hood Famous brought in social worker Aleks Martin — who has over 10 years of experience with drug and alcohol counseling, and over 20 years in the health and social service field — to talk about best practices when it comes to de-escalating conflict. Part of the training involves confronting one’s own racial and social biases . But one key part involves becoming familiar with resources that don’t involve cops.
“I’m not asking baristas to be crisis responders,” Martin tells Eater Seattle. “But they can be a bridge to connect people to services that they need. You can call on behavioral health specialists, essentially people like me — like a social worker or a mental health therapist, or an addictions counselor, or a case manager — who are trained to talk
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