Baltimore City Council considers new department to send alternative responders to 911 calls
Baltimore City Council members held a hearing on a proposal to create a new Department of Neighborhood Safety, which would send trained responders to certain 911 calls instead of police.
The proposed department would establish an alternative response system for nonviolent emergencies, including calls involving people experiencing mental health crises.
City leaders estimate that about 22,000 calls to 911 each year could be better handled by alternative responders rather than police.
The proposal also calls for replacing the city's 911 dispatch system.
Over the past year, the City Council held two hearings examining Baltimore's efforts to divert certain 911 calls to alternative responders. City leaders determined that existing options did not consistently provide the right response at the right time for residents experiencing mental health crises.
City Council President Zeke Cohen and staff from Mayor Brandon Scott's office examined an alternative response program in Durham, North Carolina, called the Holistic Empathetic Assistance Response Team (HEART).
During their visit, Baltimore officials saw HEART teams de-escalate mental health and other quality-of-life calls. The program dispatches trained teams to nonviolent emergencies that do not require a medical response.
Cohen and Scott introduced the proposal to create the Department of Neighborhood Safety on Sept. 14.
"As the first city in America to legislate trauma-informed care, we should be meeting our residents with the right response when someone is experiencing a mental health crisis," Cohen said. "That person could be someone's parent, child, sibling, or partner — and we have a responsibility to make sure the city can respond appropriately and urgently in their darkest moments."
The proposed department would house mental health clinicians and peer responders prepared to respond to nonviolent emergencies. It would also formally incorporate the work of the Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement (MONSE).
"This new department will house mental health clinicians and peers ready to respond urgently to non-violent emergencies. It will also house and codify the important work of the Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement (MONSE)," Cohen said. "I am grateful for Mayor Scott's partnership and look forward to passing this legislation to create the new Department of Neighborhood Safety through the City Council."
