Safer Cities provides coverage and analysis on innovative efforts to deliver more safety for our cities and our country.

Three new studies shed light on impact of: Mobile Crisis Response Teams, Trauma Recovery Centers, and Hospital-Based Violence Intervention Programs.

How Seattle Is “Reshaping Its Mental Health Crisis Response System” With Coordinated Dispatchers, Mobile Crisis Response Teams, And Crisis Stabilization Centers.

Portland City Council passed a resolution last week to expand the Portland Street Response team, “formally establishing [it] as an equal branch of the city's public safety system… to take some of the burden off first responders like police and firefighters.” The department, which has been responding to mental health calls since 2021 when it first launched, will now be expanding its ranks and reach to 24/7 service across the city. Its staff receive the full “designation [] as first responders, with all the associated [employment] benefits,” and the team “will also get direct dispatch through 911.”