On the phone with a Seattle Police Department dispatcher, Garcia explained that this was a person in crisis. The staff was not seeking arrest, but instead wanted help with an involuntary commitment to the hospital.
Hours ticked by and no police arrived. Donna, a pseudonym, continued to slide deeper into a crisis, exacerbated by a missed dose of methadone earlier in the week. Staff members tried to calm the situation, but they were nervous about where she might go or what she might do next.
“Anything could have happened,” said Michelle McLendon, another shift lead with CoLEAD, who stepped in later that day. “She could have been in harm’s way
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