- For KGW8, Portland’s NBC News affiliate, Blair Best reported on Portland’s City Council passing a resolution to expand the Portland Street Response team last summer, “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 receives the full “designation as first responders, with all the associated [employment] benefits,” and the team “will also get direct dispatch through 911.” A spokesperson for the city’s police department told the news channel that Portland Street Response “are a valuable piece of Portland’s public safety system, and we work with them regularly. We hear on the radio all the time officers asking for PSR, and it gives those officers another option for someone who doesn’t need police assistance but needs help in other ways … We’re happy to do our part and welcome an expansion of their program.”
- In First Year Pilot, Los Angeles UMCR Team Responded To Nearly 7,000 Calls, “Saved LAPD Officers’ Time … [So They Could] Respond To Higher Risk Calls For Service.” That’s one of the key takeaways from a report published by the L.A. City Administrator’s Office, which examined the calls for service, response times, and resources saved by the UMCR crisis responders’ pilot in the city. The responders, “provide 24/7 mobile crisis responses to appropriate and eligible calls for service… related to mental health crises, substance abuse, welfare checks, and indecent exposure.” The city found that UMCR responder teams “are highly efficient, which is crucial for mitigating the impact of a crisis… not just responding quickly but also taking the time to evaluate the situation properly and plan for any necessary follow-up…. [an] approach [that] ensures that any immediate needs of the person in crisis are met while also addressing long-term support.” In their first year, the team responded to 6,738 calls for service and allowed for “6900+ hours [of law enforcement] patrol time saved.”
