Three Things To Read This Week
1. Police Leadership Backs Civilian Crisis Response Programs.
Police in three major cities express support for robust expansion of unarmed crisis response.
ACS “Now Takes The Majority Of Mental And Behavioral Health Calls.” For Reuters, Andrew Hay reports that the Albuquerque Community Safety department “now takes the majority of mental and behavioral health [emergency] calls,” responding without police officers or paramedics. Albuquerque Police Commander Jeff Barnard wants the city’s community safety department to get “additional funding and resources,” and Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller sees it “doubling in size.”
LA Police Chief: Unarmed Response Team “Taking Some Of The Workload From Us And Shifting The Resources To The Appropriate Responders.” For the Los Angeles Times, Libor Jany reports that LAPD interim Chief Dominic Choi “fully supports” LA’s unarmed response pilot, which shifts resources to the “appropriate responders.” In a statement, City Councilmember Bob Blumenfield said, “From welfare check-ins, to nonviolent mental health/drug issues, to minor health crises in encampments… we need more tools in our toolbox…We can’t keep asking our police officers to also be social workers, mental health clinicians and outreach workers.”
Minneapolis Police Officer Calls Behavioral Health Responders “A Blessing… I Wish There Were More Of Them.” That’s what Officer Christopher Perry told Minneapolis Public Radio’s Jon Collins. Perry also said that the city’s behavioral crisis responder program “takes a lot of weight off [police officers’] shoulders.” The program is routed through the city’s 911 emergency response system and “callers can explicitly request a behavioral crisis response team.” The wisdom of sending this team of mental health professionals is reflected not only in the reduced burden to the police department and the increased level of care for community members in crisis, but also in the fact that over the course of 16,000 calls since the program’s inception, not a single unarmed responder has been seriously injured on the job.
2. Community-Based Violence Intervention Programs Credited With Sharp Drop In Homicides.
Attorney General Merrick Garland announced that the Biden Administration is “doubling down” on “evidence-based, community-centered initiatives aimed at preventing and disrupting violence” with an “historic” $78M additional funding round. Here are three examples of how local governments have put CVI dollars to good use over the past few years:
In Richmond, California, The “Lowest Number [Of Homicides] Since They Started Keeping Record:” A recent op-ed in the Mercury News by Elinor Simek credits the city’s stark drip in homicides to work done by Advance Peace Violence Intervention. Richmond went from 47 homicides in 2007 to just 8 in 2023—the “lowest number [of homicides] since they started keeping record.” Simek explains the change is the result of “a program that treats urban gun violence as a public health crisis.” The model includes an 18-month mentoring intervention fellowship for young people involved in gun violence and through trauma informed care “create[s] pathways to healing from trauma” for fellows.
In Indianapolis, A “31% Reduction In Homicides… 20% Reduction In Shootings.” For WFYI, Abriana Herron reports that Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett credits community-led violence reduction programs with the reduction in murders— “violence has fallen,” he said. “The numbers continue to go down.” This year, the city is focused particularly on reducing youth gun violence. To further that goal, the Indy Center for Conflict Resolution will train nearly 100 conflict mediation specialists who work with schools and neighborhood groups to “keep a dispute from boiling over.”
In Baltimore, One Neighborhood Went “An Entire Year Without A Murder.” As Safer Cities previously reported, the Baltimore neighborhood of Penn North went “478 days without a homicide investigation in the neighborhood,” following the implementation of the city’s flagship community violence intervention program, called Safe Streets. Historically, the neighborhood had one of the highest homicide rates in the U.S. and was known as “the epicenter of unrest in the city.”
3. New Mental Health Crisis Centers Launch Around The Country.
Crisis centers provide safe alternatives to jail and hospitals for people in crisis, making up the third piece of the crisis response system: someone to call, someone to help, and somewhere to go. Here are three new crisis centers opening their doors to help people experiencing acute mental distress:
“The Missing Piece In Our System, Keeping People Out Of Emergency Rooms And Jail.” That’s how DuPage County, Illinois, Board Chairwoman Deborah Conroy described the county’s new crisis stabilization center to the Daily Herald’s Alicia Fabbre. The center will consist of “crisis services counselors, case managers, psychiatrists and psychiatric nurse practitioners.” Critically, the center will accept patients of all ages, with or without insurance.
“When [Patients] Are In Their Most Desperate Moments And Need Help, We Will Be Here.” In Indiana, St. Joseph County’s first behavioral crisis center has opened its doors so now “people experiencing a mental health or substance abuse crisis can get immediate care from mental health professionals.” For WVPE, Marek Mazurek reports, that before the center opened, “people…going through mental health crises and acting erratically predominantly ended up in the emergency room or jail… [but] now, there’s a place that provides care for people whose mental health needs are urgent.” The center will also serve as a headquarters for the county’s mobile crisis team, which will operate out of the facility.
New Virginia Crisis Center A “Game-Changer.” For Loudon Now, Norman K. Styer reports that walk-ins or patients brought in by ambulance or police to the 14,000-square-foot facility near Leesburg, Virginia can access detox care, staffed by a multidisciplinary team of “nurse practitioners, nurses, psychiatrists, clinicians, and peer specialists” that provide “up to 23 hours of treatment [and up to] 14 days [of care].” For the Loudon Times-Mirror, Evan Goodenow reports, Dr. Ramia Gupta, medical director for the county’s Department of Mental Health, Substance Abuse and Developmental Services said that in addition to providing urgent psychiatric care for patients in a setting better suited to treat that population, the center also means “people in crisis are [not] forced to spend dozens of hours in hospital emergency rooms, [which] causes ‘chaos’ for patients and hospital staff."
