Police Horse Chance says… Do some good in your neighhhhhhborhood and join $20 for your 20 today!

We are excited to launch our ‘$20 for your 20’ giving initiative, which invites the Seattle community to actively contribute to improved public safety in our neighborhoods through a reoccurring gift of $20 per month.  

We are working hard to grow our community of monthly supporters, and for fun, we’ve added some official police jargon! Police use 10-codes to communicate more efficiently, (many are familiar with 10-4, which is like saying “affirmative” or “got it”) and 20 is the 10-code for “location.” 

The Seattle Police Foundation believes that we all deserve to feel safe in the neighborhoods where we work and live. Our $20 for your 20 initiative aims to improve public safety throughout Seattle by providing the funding needed to invest in evidence-based crime prevention tools, programs, and strategies that bring real results.  

“We want Seattle community members to feel safe no matter where they work, live, or visit,” said SPF CEO Cherie Skager. “Reoccurring giving is a meaningful way to support our work, as it helps ensure the sustainability and longevity of our front-facing public safety investments. Our primary goal is to improve public safety throughout Seattle, and we need the community’s buy-in to make that happen.”

Reoccurring giving is one of the easiest, most convenient ways to support our work. Your $20 monthly investment is invaluable in furthering our ongoing mission to make Seattle safer through proactive crime prevention efforts, lifesaving training and equipment, police-community partnerships, and much more.  

The first 1,000 community members to participate will receive an official Seattle Police Department challenge coin as a tangible token of our appreciation, plus you’ll get a shout-out on our website as an official ‘$20 for your 20’ participant. 

Do some good in your neighhhhhhborhood by joining $20 for your 20 today! Sign up at: ‘$20 for your 20’ donation page. 

At the start of the year, we made a commitment to SPD’s Relational Policing Unit.

We pledged to help support and amplify the Department’s efforts to build lasting, rewarding relationships with the Seattle community that ultimately lead to improved public safety for all.

In alignment with this commitment, we made Relational Policing an area of emphasis at this year’s Celebrity Waiters Luncheon (CWL), held on Friday, May 10. Thanks to a generous CWL community, we were able to subsequently host a spring Relational Policing grants process, which took place towards the end of May. 

SPF’s grant review committee heard presentations by SPD officers, Community Service Officers, leadership, and civilian staff, who shared their ideas on ways to seed and grow productive, bountiful relationships between the men and women of the Seattle Police Department and the Seattle community members they serve.

The grant review committee recommended a total of 18 proposals for funding, for a collective award of $155,000, which will be used to seed innovative new programs, sustain existing programs and initiatives, and enhance multiple opportunities for improved police-community relationships. The Seattle Police Foundation Board of Directors approved the committee’s recommendation during the June board meeting, and we cannot wait to get started!

Included in the funding recommendations are projects such as: the Community Service Officer (CSO) Unit’s Football Combine; equipment and supplies for the Detective Cookie Chess Club, Before the Badge, the If Project, and the Seattle Police Activities League (SEAPAL); youth and family engagement programs; personal safety items and crime prevention training tools, the South Park Community Safety program, Heroes and Helpers, officer training at the NW African American Museum, and more.

Please “like” and “follow” us on Facebook for updates as these new programs and initiatives are activated. We’re looking forward to sharing more as we go! We’re grateful for all the loyal SPF donors whose generosity makes this important community-building work possible. 

We are excited to invite you to support this year's Blue Tie Ball, which takes place Friday, October 4, 2024, at the King Street Ballroom and Perch in downtown Seattle. 

Blue Tie Ball is our largest, most important fundraiser of the year and one of the most powerful, inspirational events that we host. Please help us make the 2024 event our best, most successful gala ever!

Blue Tie Ball

Friday, October 4th, 2024

King Street Ballroom and Perch

255 South King Street, Seattle 98104

For sponsorship and ticket information email: info@seattlepolicefoundation.org

With SPD’s ongoing staffing shortfalls and budget limitations, our work to help the department maximize technology to increase efficiencies across investigations without compromising standards is more vital than ever.  

The Force Investigation Team’s (FIT) brand-new Leica BLK360 laser scanner is a great example of one of the many ways we invest in state-of-the-art technology to help detectives perform their jobs faster and with more accuracy. SPD’s FIT is tasked with the investigation of all Type III use of force incidents (Type III is a category used to define different types of force used by officers), so the ability to accurately capture measurements and other spatial details at the scene of an incident is of paramount importance to FIT detectives.

The request for this new piece of technology came to the Seattle Police Foundation during our fall 2023 grants process. The Leica BLK360 laser scanner was recommended for funding, as its value was clearly recognized by our grant review committee and our Board of Directors.

While there are some cases in which SPD’s Crime Scene Investigations (CSI) Unit detectives respond to scenes alongside FIT, and capture the scene with its own laser scanner, with Type III investigations, FIT takes on the entire workload itself.

Prior to the Leica BLK360, FIT detectives captured the scene the old-fashioned way; they took measurements by hand and sketched the scene out on a pad of paper. Digital photos helped tell the story, but scene details were primarily collected manually by the investigator, which was time-consuming and reflected human-level margins of error.

If a detective later realized that they needed a different measurement, they were often out of luck, particularly if the use of force occurred outdoors in a busy public area. With the Leica BLK360, forgetting a measurement is a thing of the past, as it smoothly captures a digital 3D model of any space, either indoors or outdoors, in a fraction of the time it takes a human to do the same. It’s precise, lightweight, and easy to transport. 

With the Leica BLK360, FIT detectives no longer have to worry about missing details.

“The question is answered before we even know we have the question,” said FIT Det. Dan Erickson, who has taken the lead on the implementation of this new technology. 

As you can imagine, the Leica BLK360 isn’t something that you unbox and immediately deploy at a scene, but luckily, Det. Erickson is incredibly tech-savvy and has embraced the new tool with enthusiasm and a thirst for tactical knowledge. He is thrilled by its potential and is in the process of learning the ins and outs of the tool while also training his teammates.

We are incredibly thankful for the generous donors who make these investments possible. FIT Detective Erickson and Acting Captain Pat Daly recently echoed our gratitude. 

“This was an awesome piece of equipment for us to get our hands on,” Daly said. “We really do appreciate this.”

During our fall 2023 grant process, we awarded funding to SPD’s Hostage Negotiation Team (HNT) for needed communications aides, including a hailer (mobile PA) system and a second BRINC Ball throw phone.

These innovative tools are essential to the HNT’s de-escalation work, helping to facilitate productive communication between a person in crisis and SPD negotiators.

HNT works with patrol and SWAT to help provide the highest levels of de-escalation at critical incidents such as hostage takings, barricaded subjects, and people in crisis. This work is done through the use of coordinated tactics, persuasive communication, and specialized equipment. The team works closely with its SWAT partners to help maximize the safety of the public, officers, and the involved parties.

HNT responds to over 150 incidents per year and has an extremely high success rate in helping to resolve incidents and minimize injuries. The team routinely relies on specialized equipment to communicate with subjects and often has to rely on grants to purchase these items.  

A BRINC Ball is a lightweight, durable handheld two-way communication device (essentially a throwable speaker phone), which can be used in tense situations when face-to-face communication would be dangerous. Seattle-based BRINC created the BRINC Ball to be tough! Negotiators can toss the BRINC Ball into the vicinity of the subject in crisis and establish effective two-way communication from positions of safety.

When Chief Negotiator Sergeant James Kim went to purchase the items, he learned that he could get two hailers and the BRINC Ball and still stay mostly within his total grant award, give or take around a $100. Having two hailers in addition to another BRINC Ball creates redundancy in equipment and increases the likelihood of getting key equipment to the scene in a timely manner by allowing for the storage of equipment in different response vehicles. 

We’re grateful to HNT for its vital work to reduce use of force during tense, high-stakes incidents. Thanks to all our loyal donors whose support helps us fill these funding gaps!

This month we mourned the loss of Seattle Police Department Alexandra “Lexi” Brenneman Harris, killed in the line of duty on June 13, 2021. 

In her five years as a Seattle police officer, Officer Harris exemplified true community policing, inspiring those around her on a daily basis. She had a rare knack for meeting people where they were at and viewed her interactions with community members through a lens of empathy. She was the very definition of service before self. 

Those who knew her were better off because of it. 

As much as she cared for her community, she cared for her brothers and sisters in law enforcement. Officer Harris breathed life into SPD’s internal wellness efforts and initiatives, and we are proud to carry forth her legacy through our support of today’s Wellness Unit.

Throughout June we honor the memory of SPD’s very own Wonder Woman, Officer Harris, and do our best to embody the character traits she was known and loved for. We look forward to placing Officer Harris’s new, public-facing memorial stone later this summer, as the next installation of the Seattle Police Fallen Officer Memorial Project. Thank you to all the loyal donors who made Lexi’s memorial stone possible. 

This month and every month, we hold her family and friends close to our hearts. 

Last year, Lexi’s parents, Rebecca Brenneman and Laird Harris, along with Jay and Joelle Fathi, partnered with the Seattle Colleges Foundation to establish the Lexi Harris Memorial Endowment. Please learn more about Officer Harris, and the scholarship endowment founded by her family and close family friends, at: Lexi Harris Scholarship Endowment

Thank you to our friends at Gesa Credit Union for stopping by the Seattle Police Department’s North Precinct earlier this month with a plethora of piping hot pizzas! 

This delicious pizza feast was not only to treat the hardworking men and women of the North Precinct, but also to help raise awareness about Gesa’s Local Heroes Grants Program, which awards funds to eligible organizations that support local heroes in our communities.

Additionally, we are excited to share that Gesa Credit Union is a brand-new sponsor of the 2024 Blue Tie Ball, SPF’s most important fundraiser of the year.

Thanks to Gesa Credit Union for supporting first responders! 

Learn more about the Local Heroes Affinity Debit Card program at: Local Heroes Affinity Card

One of the best things about supporting SPD’s Relational Policing Unit, is that it gives us so many different opportunities to be out in the community with the men and women of SPD.

We love meeting Seattle community members and sharing more about the different ways we support public safety in Seattle.

We especially love linking arms with other nonprofits and Seattle business entities, like Blue Hero Project, SODO BIA, Special Olympics Washington, the Alki Community Council, the American Legion Cathay Post 186, Target, and others.

When it comes to improving public safety in Seattle, collaboration is key! We look forward to leveraging relationships and building partnerships to have an even bigger impact on quality of life.

Here are a few photos from various events in May and June, including the final Celebrity Waiters planning meeting with the Mounted Patrol, the Cathay Post 186 Memorial Day Ceremony, SPD’s KFC with SPD event held at Kkokio Fried Chicken, the Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics Washington, and the Alki Community Summer Celebration. We're looking forward to more events this summer!

In April we received our quarterly donation from Fred Meyer, on behalf of the 27 households who have opted in to the Fred Meyer Community Rewards program and selected the Seattle Police Foundation as their charity of choice!

The Fred Meyer Community Rewards program is a simple way to support our work without even thinking about it, and without it impacting your wallet. All you have to do to set it up is log into your online Fred Meyer account and select “My Account.” From there, click on “Community Rewards” and select the Seattle Police Foundation as your nonprofit of choice.

Moving forward, any transactions you complete using the Shopper’s Card number (or phone number) associated with your account will be applied to the program, at no added cost to you. Fred Meyer donates throughout the year to participating Community Rewards organizations.

We would really like to grow the number of contributing households so please consider enrolling today! It only takes a few seconds to link your account. Visit: Fred Meyer Community Rewards