SOOP — Securing Our Own People

Community-Led Safety, Medical, Accessibility, and Care

Securing Our Own People (SOOP) is a trans-led, community-rooted safety program providing non-police security, medical, accessibility, and communications infrastructure for public events and community gatherings.

SOOP exists to support communities that have been historically excluded, harmed, or criminalized by traditional emergency and policing systems, including Black, brown, trans, queer, disabled, houseless, undocumented, and low-income communities. Our work is designed by and for the people most impacted by state violence, surveillance, and neglect.

We do not provide enforcement services, and we do not partner with law enforcement. Our approach is grounded in the understanding that safety is created through preparation, coordination, care, and shared responsibility—not coercion or punishment.

Our Vision

We envision a world where everyone can participate fully in public life without fear of violence, neglect, or abandonment when things go wrong.

In this world, safety is community-led, trauma-informed, and accessible by design. People protect one another with skills, planning, and care—not weapons or authority. Community-led safety is not a future concept; it is already happening, and SOOP is part of that shift.

History & Impact

Founded in 2018, SOOP emerged in response to a clear and urgent need: to protect our communities when existing systems failed or caused harm.

Our early work focused on grassroots gatherings, vigils, and protests where no adequate safety or medical infrastructure existed. During the 2020 Black Lives Matter uprisings, SOOP was one of the only teams providing trauma-informed medical and safety support, responding to injuries from pepper spray, blast balls, rubber bullets, and crowd-control tactics.

Since then, SOOP has grown into a trusted, highly trained, and reliable community safety infrastructure. To date, we have supported the safety and care of more than 200,000 people across Washington State through large public events, demonstrations, and community gatherings.

Selected Events (Not Exhaustive)

• Redmond Pride (2022–2025)
• Woodinville Pride (2023–present)
• Snoqualmie Valley Pride (2024–present)
• Trans Pride Seattle (2019; 2022–2024)
• Tacoma Trans Flag Raisings, including the Tacoma Dome (2021–2025)
• Black Lives Matter protests (2020)
• Rosie Jimenez Reproductive Rights Protest (2019)
• SPL WOLF Protest (2019)
• Alki Beach Pride (2021–2022)
• Anacortes Pride (2022)
• Duvall Pride Pallet (2023)
• King County Library System Rainbow Connections Series (2024–present)
• Santa Parade (2023, following a vehicle breach the year prior)
• Grit City Books Drag Story Time (2025)

What We Provide

SOOP provides integrated, community-led safety services tailored to the realities of public events and high-stress environments.

Core Services

• Event Safety & De-escalation
  Non-police safety teams focused on early intervention, situational awareness, and harm reduction.
• Medical & Wellness Support
  Trained responders providing first aid, medical assessment, psychological first aid, and wellness support at events.
• Accessibility & CARE Support
  Dedicated teams supporting disabled attendees and integrating accessibility into safety planning, response, and evacuation considerations.
• Communications & Coordination
  Clear internal and external communication systems to support rapid response, coordination, and effective handoff when escalation occurs.
• Court Support & Accompaniment
  Standing with community members during legal proceedings to provide emotional and logistical support.
• Safety Planning & Crisis Support
  Assisting individuals and organizations with proactive safety planning and response to immediate threats.

Training, Expertise & Professional Standards

SOOP’s credibility is grounded in extensive training, operational experience, and continuous improvement.

Our training systems have evolved alongside our work in the field and are designed specifically for community-led, non-police response environments.

Training & Expertise Includes

• In-house onboarding and scenario-based field preparation
• Cross-training across safety, medical, accessibility, communications, and logistics roles
• Trauma-informed de-escalation and violence prevention
• Emergency preparedness and incident coordination frameworks
• First aid, psychological first aid, and stress response
• Accessibility-centered safety and care practices
• Peer support, responder wellbeing, and facilitated debriefing
• Scenario-based self-defense emphasizing awareness, disengagement, and survival
• Leadership development and ethics-based decision-making
• Ongoing education through partnerships with licensed EMTs, nurses, accessibility experts, de-escalation trainers, and event coordinators
• Regular after-action reviews, refreshers, and policy updates

Collectively, SOOP leadership and response teams have completed hundreds of hours of training across safety, medical response, accessibility, de-escalation, emergency management, and peer support.

Building Sustainable, Replicable Models

In addition to direct services, we are actively developing in-house training and credentialing systems that allow communities to build their own safety, medical, and accessibility infrastructure locally.

This work focuses on:

• Skill-sharing rather than gatekeeping
• Clear role boundaries and ethical limits
• Reducing dependence on outside systems
• Creating models that can be taught, adapted, and sustained over time

Our goal is not to be the only team capable of this work, but to raise the baseline of preparedness across communities.

Impact in Practice

SOOP’s work is measured not only by presence, but by outcomes.

• During the 2023 Santa Parade, SOOP identified and monitored a potential bad actor during pre-event walkthroughs, intervening early and likely preventing an incident following a vehicle breach the year prior.
• SOOP provided safety support for vigils and memorials following the death of a Seattle trans woman during an eviction, ensuring spaces of grief remained safe and affirming.
• In 2023, SOOP medical teams supported another mutual aid group in saving the life of an unhoused individual experiencing an overdose.
• Since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, SOOP has maintained zero lapses in safety coverage at Pride events under our watch.
• At Trans Pride Seattle 2024, SOOP teams reunited a lost child and a vulnerable adult with caregivers quietly and without disruption.

These are not exceptions. They reflect how community-led safety works when it is planned, trained, and integrated.

Why SOOP

We do not promise perfect safety. No one can.

What we offer is honest preparation, ethical response, and care that does not disappear when conditions become difficult.

SOOP demonstrates—again and again—that safety, accessibility, and dignity do not require police, and that when communities lead with skill and coordination, safer spaces follow.