Eric Pisconski retired in 2022 as the Lieutenant overseeing the Seattle Police Department's Directed Outreach Section – to include the Crisis Response Unit (CRU) and the Homeless Outreach group. Eric also served as the Crisis Intervention (CIT) Coordinator for the Department. The CIT Coordinator is responsible for implementing and sustaining all aspects of the Department's crisis intervention program. Lt Pisconski served on the Force Review Board as a subject matter expert (SME) related to crisis intervention / de-escalation tactics and the intersection with force applications. He previously spent 5 years as the Sergeant of the Crisis Response Team (CRT). Their mission is to support patrol field operations utilizing a co-responder model (partnering a Mental Health Professional (MHP) with an officer) and applicable follow-up in criminal and non-criminal cases involving a behavioral health nexus. CRT also develops individually tailored response plans and pursues Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPO's) for individuals meeting established criteria. Over 10,000 cases annually are routed to the CRU.
Eric was actively involved in the Crisis Intervention aspect of law enforcement since 2007; and assigned as the lead for Crisis/De-escalation in the Seattle Department's Training Unit in 2014. Eric was a lead instructor and created various training courses for Tactical De-Escalation and 'Officer Approaches to De-Escalation and Interacting with Persons in Crisis' for the BJA sponsored VALOR training nationally and the Seattle branch of the FBI. He was a member of Washington's "Safer Homes – Suicide Aware" Taskforce and served as a subject matter expert for multiple State legislative forums. Lt Pisconski has presented at the National Co-Responders Conference, the CIT International Conferences, NAMI annual conferences, and the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) – Integrating Communications, Assessment, and Tactics (ICAT) seminar as a subject matter expert. Eric has also served as a moderator for both the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission - Basic Law Enforcement Academy Crisis Intervention and the Federal Bureau of Investigation Hostage Negotiator training. Eric has facilitated training related to de-escalation, persons in crisis, and the intersection with use of force to thousands of officers nationally across hundreds of agencies since 2014.
After retiring from law enforcement, Eric spent 3.5 years with Starbucks Behavioral Threat Assessment Board (TAB). The mission of TAB was to be an invaluable resource providing enhanced partner and customer care by assessing risk and leveraging expertise to navigate significant incidents in a timely manner. Eric conducted behavioral threat & risk assessments for potential workplace violence issues while providing guidance, resources, and mitigation strategies to internal stakeholders navigating life safety incidents within the US and Canada. Eric developed an extensive TAB Operations manual, protocols for case investigations, and summary (CIR) reports. Eric also developed enterprise level investigative training resources for incidents involving suicidal & homicidal ideation, physical & sexual assaults, behaviors of concern & threats, weapon possession, and domestic violence support.
