By Katya Spear, Managing Director, Mayors Innovation Project
The panel The Right Response at the Right Time at the MIP Summer Meeting in Albuquerque, NM, brought together mayors, department heads, and national policy experts to discuss how cities are advancing public safety by establishing and expanding alternative response programs. The conversation highlighted a quiet but effective sea change happening since the murder of George Floyd, with a growing number of cities adopting non-police responses for non-criminal emergencies.
The Case for Alternative Response
Scarlet Neath, a national policy expert based at the Policing Project at NYU, kicked off the discussion by highlighting the growth and effectiveness of alternative response programs. She noted that there are now over 130 community responder programs across the U.S., many of which have emerged or expanded since 2020. These programs aim to better address community needs by diverting non-criminal calls, which account for up to 62% of calls for service. Studies, such as one on Denver’s STAR program, show that these programs operate at a fraction of the cost of a police response and are highly effective, with virtually none of the incidents handled by these teams leading to an arrest or danger to the personnel involved.
Neath also shared a new national campaign, led by the Policing Project, with a goal to divert 12 million calls, which translates to 20% of all calls for service, in participating jurisdictions. This approach was piloted in their work with the City of Minneapolis, leading to the Minneapolis Community Safety Ecosystem Asset and Gap Analysis in Dec. 2024.
City Spotlights: Minneapolis, Durham, and Albuquerque
Panelists from Minneapolis, Durham, and Albuquerque shared their experiences in building and scaling these programs.
Amanda Harrington, Neighborhood Safety Director for the City of Minneapolis, presented its Safe and Thriving Communities strategy, which operates on the principles of prevention, response, and restoration. The Policing Project’s analysis revealed that they were already diverting 9% of calls and identified opportunities to increase this to as much as 50% by diverting calls related to behavioral crises, traffic control, and animal control. Minneapolis introduced its Behavioral Crisis Response (BCR) team in 2021, contracting with Canopy Roots, a local Black-owned mental health service provider. Since that time, the City has been expanding its alternative response offerings, including online reporting of property theft and damage and piloting several programs including a civilian safety ambassador program and embedding a social worker within their 911 center. A key takeaway from Minneapolis was the importance of leadership accountability and engaging key partners early in the process.
Durham, NC, represented on the panel by Mayor Leonardo Williams and Community Safety Department Director Ryan Smith, has implemented the H.E.A.R.T. (Holistic Empathetic Assistance Response Teams) program. This model uses a co-response approach, pairing police officers with clinicians and social workers. The program started as a pilot in one-third of the city and has since scaled city-wide. Mayor Williams noted that while the program does require investment, its approach is more humane, highly effective, and less expensive than incarceration. The program has been a success, with 94% of police officers seeing it as helpful and saving over 8,000 police calls per year. The city’s success was largely attributed to building police buy-in through transparent communication and recognizing the compassionate work of officers.
Albuquerque, NM, under the leadership of Mayor Tim Keller, established a completely new department for its alternative response program, the Albuquerque Community Safety Department (ACS). Albuquerque’s story was represented on the panel by Mayor Keller and Director of ACS Jodie Esquibel. ACS is focused on providing the “right response at the right time“ and has created specialized teams, including field response teams, mobile crisis teams, and street outreach responders. Mayor Keller emphasized the importance of institutionalizing these programs and building a bilateral dispatch system to improve efficiency for both Police and ACS. The city is also working to address the challenge of homelessness; ACS has established a First Responder Receiving Area at its Gateway Center, where only first responders may admit clients. The Receiving Area is a service access point where clients can get help figuring out their next step in connecting to services and support. ACS has been a resounding success, securing support and trust from Police and Fire Departments, growing its workforce, and scaling to operate citywide and 24 hours a day. This March, ACS responded to its 100,000th call since its launch in 2021.
The post-panel Q&A session addressed critical questions on implementation:
- Financing: Cities have financed these programs by reallocating resources from other departments, raising taxes, and leveraging grant funding. Panelists encouraged seeking sustainable funding sources and building the work into city budgets, because grant money— whether from a foundation, the state, or other entity—eventually ends.
- Hiring and Unions: Working with police unions can be difficult. It took time in New Mexico to get the union to understand that the new department was a separate entity with a different purpose. Panelists shared that, in general, it’s been easier to staff alternative response programs than their Police Department. There’s been high interest from trained social workers in this work, and they are less expensive to hire than police officers.
- Organizational Structure: The cities have used different models—Albuquerque created a 100% new, in-house team; Durham leveraged a re-organization and absorbed services previously provided by a non-profit; and Minneapolis leveraged existing departments and utilizes contracted services. Cities are also addressing challenges like “scope creep,” where alternative response teams are asked to handle more challenges than they are equipped for, often because of their success.
- Partnerships and Communications: The panelists agreed that training dispatch is key to ensuring the correct team is deployed. They also emphasized the importance of continuous communication with the public and community leaders. Methods include podcasts, online sessions, and bringing journalists in to share success stories and build trust. Mayor Williams of Durham highlighted the importance of engaging youth organizations to understand and address rising youth crime, including sponsoring civic days for students to propose solutions.
Key takeaways: presentations and discussion revealed key takeaways for cities looking to implement or expand their alternative response programs:
- Secure Leadership Buy-In and Build Strategic Partnerships: A successful program starts with a commitment from city leadership, particularly the mayor and police chief. This is crucial for navigating political challenges and ensuring the new approach isn’t seen as a threat to traditional policing. Panelists from Durham and Albuquerque highlighted how their police chiefs’ on-board perspective was critical to gaining support. It’s also vital to engage all key partners early, especially police unions and 911 dispatch staff. Dispatchers are the gatekeepers of the system, and training them to properly triage and route calls is essential. Durham speakers noted their success in winning over skeptical police officers by demonstrating how the new program would save them from thousands of non-criminal calls annually.
- Start with a Pilot and Measure Everything: In most cases, panelists recommended starting with a targeted pilot program to test the model on a smaller scale, as Durham did by launching in just one-third of the city. This allows cities to work out operational challenges before a full-scale rollout. Crucially, it’s essential to develop a clear framework for measuring success from the very beginning. This includes tracking metrics like the number of calls diverted, officer time saved, and outcomes for individuals served. Durham’s public dashboard and Minneapolis’s data-driven approach were highlighted as best practices, as they provide concrete evidence of the program’s value and build public trust.
- Focus on a Robust Workforce: Building a new public safety workforce is key. The panel recommended cities invest in a skilled, caring workforce of clinicians, social workers, and other specialists. The high interest from these professionals, who are often less expensive to hire than police officers, was noted as a key advantage. Workforce training is also key; ACS training includes a 3 month Academy along with a 3 month rotation to orient workers.
- Continuous Communication: It is also vital to develop a comprehensive communication strategy that engages the public, community leaders, and even journalists. Panelists recommended using a variety of channels—from podcasts and online sessions to neighborhood engagement—to share success stories and educate the community on the purpose and impact of the program. Mayor Williams’s comment that the conversation in Durham shifted from “defund the police” to “fund H.E.A.R.T.” illustrates the power of effective communication in building public support.