[3] Nearly a quarter of the over two million people incarcerated in the US are there for drug-related crimes, and substance use disorders (SUD) are more prevalent in the prison population than in the general public.
[5] The multi-agency collaboration included the Seattle Police Department, the King County Sheriff’s Office, the King County Prosecutor, the Seattle City Attorney, the Washington State Department of Corrections, Evergreen Treatment Services, the Washington American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and the Public Defender Association’s Racial Disparity Project.
[3] Rollout began in the drug-troubled Belltown neighborhood, with hand-picked participants: low-level drug dealers, addicts and prostitutes who had been repeatedly arrested.
Individualized programs offered services including drug treatment, housing assistance, education, and microloans for business start-ups.
[6][7] Police officers use their discretion to refer an individual arrested for minor offences to a case manager who assesses the client and creates a personalized intervention plan.