About LEAD
Through Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD), Burien Police Department officers can divert people who have committed certain low-level crimes into community-based treatment and support services—including housing, health care, job training, treatment, and mental health care—instead of processing them through the traditional criminal justice system.
Burien LEAD’s goal is to improve public safety and to reduce the criminal behavior of people who participate in the program through proven, care-based strategies. Outreach workers are available to officers 24/7, and service provider teams are expected to average 20 clients per case manager. A 2015 evaluation from the University of Washington showed that LEAD significantly reduced recidivism; people in LEAD were 58 percent less likely than people in the control group to be re-arrested.
Launched in October 2011 in Seattle and 2018 in Burien, the program is operational in most police precincts of the Seattle Police Department, as well as with Metro Transit Police and in North Highline (unincorporated King County). The national LEAD program operates in more than 70 communities across the country, from large cities to small rural communities.
Eligibility
Eligible charges include low-level drug possession (VUCSA), trespass, prostitution, misdemeanor theft, public camping, and unlawful bus conduct. Police make the vast majority of referrals, which are approved by detectives and sergeants. Community members can also make referrals, which are approved based on appropriateness and capacity. The views of individual victims are taken into consideration before a decision is made to divert a given case.
Individuals with certain convictions or charges in their criminal history may not be eligible to participate; referrals will not be made for DUI, domestic violence, rape and sexual assault, murder and felony assault, and gang-related activity.
Click here to learn more about Seattle-King County’s LEAD program.
Updated June 27, 2025