COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – A six-week pilot program aimed at reshaping the police force response to 911 callers with mental health and addiction problems in Columbus has produced promising results, city officials said Thursday.
Data collected over a 72-hour period showed that more than 60% of calls received did not require immediate police or fire dispatches, Mayor Andrew Ginther’s office said in a press release.
Almost half of these calls were either handled entirely by the group of psychiatrists and dispatchers or were routed to local community services.
The experiment, which began in June, involved a “triage capsule” of paramedics, public health clinicians, and dispatchers to check the best response to non-emergency emergency calls.
“What this program shows so clearly is the need to strengthen and diversify our frontline responses so police officers can focus on what they should always be doing: fighting violent crime and protecting our neighborhoods,” said Ginther .
On calls requiring a police response, the city said the group had been actively working with officials to provide de-escalation and information to “ensure a successful outcome” prior to arriving at the crime scene.
There are plans to extend the program’s operating hours and build additional units.
