Baltimore City Council to take final vote on new Department of Neighborhood Safety

Baltimore City Council is scheduled to take a final vote on Monday on legislation creating a new Department of Neighborhood Safety, which supporters say would establish a better response system for nonviolent emergency calls, including those involving mental health crises.

Council President Zeke Cohen says the department would help ensure Baltimore residents get the appropriate response when they call for help. The legislation would also give City Council additional oversight of the Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement (MONSE).

"We have been talking about needing a best-in-class crisis response system for years in this city, if not for decades," Cohen said.

Cohen says police are too often called to handle situations involving mental health crises, and he believes the new department could provide a different approach.

"It's one thing to just have a number to call, but actually having the infrastructure in place to address crisis at that moment is something that other cities are doing," Cohen said. "As I explained in the hearing earlier today, we took from a lot of good ideas from other cities and then put the Baltimore flair."

The legislation would also codify what the council calls the "important work" of MONSE into law, establishing it as a stand-alone department and giving City Council greater oversight and accountability.

MONSE recently came under scrutiny after its Chief of Victim Services, Mark Mason, allegedly advocated for the early release of Tyree Reynolds. Police say Reynolds fatally shot 12-year-old Khloe Ishway at a youth football game on Oct. 3.

"Having them stood up as a stand-alone department, moving them out of the mayoralty and into a department provides an avenue for increased oversight, for increased accountability," Cohen said.

However, not all council members support the legislation.

Councilman Mark Conway voted against the bill during its second reader, raising concerns about the cost and unresolved issues within MONSE.

"We haven't asked a lot of questions. We are still trying to address a lot of the problems that have come up," Conway said. "We have had folks inside the administration speak about the troubles that are going on inside MONSE, and we are not even talking about that."

The final vote is scheduled for Monday's City Council meeting, which is set to begin at 5 p.m.