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

The Momentum Keeps Growing For Mobile Crisis Response Units. Dozens of localities have turned to mental health professionals to respond—often instead of law enforcement—to mental health-related calls for service.

New Polling Shows Robust Support For Cost-Free Narcan In Public Spaces. Quick Response Teams, like the newly launched team in Detroit, are only able to follow-up with people who survived an overdose because they survived. A major factor in why people survive an opioid overdose—or don’t—comes down to Narcan. Indeed, we mentioned above that Detroit firefighters “administered lifesaving naloxone 2,400 times” last year.  Cities across the country are making Narcan more accessible—not just to first responders and medical professionals, but to the general public through libraries, schools, bars and nightclubs, and even gas stations. 

In San Diego County, “Over 98% Of Mental Health Calls Have Been Diverted From Armed Law Enforcement, Resulting In A Trained Mobile Crisis Response Team Arriving Instead.”