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The Associated Press has found that 14 of the 20 most populous U.S. cities are experimenting with removing police from certain, nonviolent 911 calls and sending behavioral health clinicians
DENVER (AP) — Christian Glass was a geology geek, a painter and a young man beset by a mental health crisis when he called 911 for help getting his car unstuck in a Colorado mountain town last year. When sheriff’s deputies arrived, he refused to get out of the car after saying that supernatural beings […]
"If someone is experiencing a mental health crisis, law enforcement is not what they need," said Tamara Lynn of the National De-Escalation Training Center, a private group that trains police to handle such situations.
The STAR program uses clinicians and EMTs or paramedics to respond to nonviolent mental health crises, instead of police. Data gathered by The Associated Press show at least 14 of the 20 most populous U.S. cities are hosting or starting such programs, sometimes called civilian, alternative or non-police response teams. They span from New York and Los Angeles to Columbus, Ohio, and Houston, and boast annual budgets that together topped $123 million as of June 2023, the AP found.
DENVER — Christian Glass was a geology geek, a painter and a young man beset by a mental health crisis when he called 911 for help getting his car unstuck