Denver’s Civilian Crisis Response Program Reduces Crime And Saves Money
Topline: A new Denver, Colorado mobile crisis response program that sends healthcare experts instead of armed police officers to situations where people are experiencing a mental health crisis significantly reduces both crime and costs, according to a new groundbreaking study by Stanford researchers.
What is Mobile Crisis Response? The study, published in Science Advances, analyzed Denver STAR — a program similar to dozens of others around the country that deploys mobile crisis responders when people experience problems related to mental health, substance use, and homelessness. The STAR team includes trained experts — a mental health clinician and a paramedic specially-equipped to handle crises — who provide instant, on-site support. They also connect people with services and longer-term care, and can ask for police assistance when necessary. Calls to STAR are routed through 911 dispatch and also come from the police directly.
Key Findings:
During its first six months in operation, STAR reduced low-level crimes (for example, trespassing and public disorder) by 34% and prevented almost 1,400 criminal offenses. Shifting to a civilian responder model did not result in an increase in more serious crime. The research shows that providing a more tailored response to acute mental and behavioral health episodes yields direct public safety benefits.
The authors explained that reported crime in Denver dropped for two reasons: First, because STAR responders, trained to provide care rather than enforcement, are less likely to record incidents as offenses subject to citation or arrest. Second, the study identified “actual reductions in crime” and criminal behavior, including during times of day that STAR was inactive—a result partly explained by reducing recidivism through providing the care that people need.
The researchers also found that mobile crisis response produces dramatic savings: “the direct costs of having police as the first responders to individuals in mental health and substance abuse crises are over four times as large as those associated with a community response model.” And that disparity does not include further savings that flow from trained responders connecting people with targeted, necessary healthcare, rather than relying on expensive emergency room care or no care at all.
The bottom line is that there is now empirical evidence that mobile crisis response is affordable and effective—and serves the twin goals of public health and public safety. “These types of community-response models that bring mental health professionals rather than the police to low-severity calls seem to work,” co-author James Pyne told Scientific American, with this study providing “credible, plausible evidence that gives us some confidence” that these programs are effective.
“It’s going to be important to see whether this model works at scale in Denver and if other cities will be able to replicate this success,” Pyne’s co-author Thomas S. Dee said. “But the message today is that there is extraordinary promise in these sorts of innovations.”
More Context:
In cities across America, police officers have long-been the default responders for everything from violent crime to minor nuisances to people in the throes of psychotic episodes. As a result, large chunks of police time and resources are consumed by low-level or healthcare-related calls that divert attention away from the most important work that police departments do, such as solving shootings and murders. In the study of Denver’s STAR program, the authors explain that police currently spend more time responding to “low-priority” calls than to any other type of emergency, with research showing that a quarter to two-thirds of the emergency calls involving disorder, mental health, and noncriminal complaints could be directed to mental health crisis experts and other civilian first responders.
To highlight a few specific jurisdictions: in Philadelphia, estimates show that only about 4% of calls for service involve violent crime while 65% of calls do not need an armed response; in San Antonio, 39% of calls are of the lowest priority level; and in Seattle, 80% of calls pertain to non-criminal events.
Given this reality, dozens of cities have adopted programs like Denver STAR, using 911 dispatch and direct-line call centers to deploy trained civilian responders (including paramedics, psychiatrists, behavioral health clinicians and social workers) who provide on-site care to people experiencing mental or behavioral health crises. But “the research on alternative responders has not kept pace with the proliferation of such programs.” While internal evaluations and other qualitative studies have shown clear benefits (for example, the clinic that operates the decades-old crisis response program in Eugene, Oregon, known as CAHOOTS, says that it has saved the city millions of dollars and responds at one-tenth the cost of police), there is not yet a robust body of empirical literature assessing mobile crisis response. The quasi-experimental study of Denver STAR’s program is a critical start toward filling the research gap.
