Crisis team will make the city safer
calls. Only 311 of those calls required police backup.
It is no surprise that the program continues to expand. Denver, Colorado’s Support Team Assistance Response program sees similar success, where 748 responses required no police assistance. For a model that is closer to home, look no further than Dayton where stakeholders include the police who believe their time is better spent dealing with violent crime.
This is not Columbus’ first foray when it comes to alternative response models.
The city created and sees success in its Right Response, Mobile Crisis Response, and Rapid Response Emergency Addiction Crisis Team programs. However — until now — none featured a success on a non-police response.
With the new funding allocation and Columbus Safety Collective standing ready to help, it is imperative that the city hits the ground running with this pilot.
Our neighbors’ lives are on the line, and they deserve to feel safe calling for the help that they need.
The Safety Collective remains invested in this work and the success of the non-police crisis response program for the long-term. For this reason, it promises to keep a close eye on where and how the city spends the recently-allocated money, the data that the pilot produces, and the space for continued growth toward a safer city for all of Columbus.
Patrick Higgins serves as policy counsel for the ACLU of Ohio. He primarily works on issues related to the ACLU Campaign for Smart Justice, which is a multiyear effort to reduce the U.S. jail and prison population and combat racial disparities in the criminal legal system.