LA Expands Unarmed 911-Response Program To More Neighborhoods

LOS ANGELES, CA — A pilot program that dispatches unarmed mental-health professionals — instead of police officers — to certain 911 calls will be expanded to more parts of Los Angeles following a unanimous City Council vote on Friday.

The program, the Unarmed Model of Crisis Response Pilot Program, was among the initiatives launched by the council in response to the 2020 killing of George Floyd.

Modeled after a program in Eugene, Oregon, the LA effort sends mental health practitioners to certain situations that would typically fall to police, such as welfare checks and calls for public intoxication and indecent exposure.

The council on Friday voted to extend contracts through Aug. 31, 2025 with three nonprofits, totaling nearly $11.3 million. The nonprofits — Alcott, Penny Lane and Exodus — have been running the program in three Los Angeles Police Department coverage areas: the Wilshire, Devonshire and Southeast divisions.

The renewed contracts will see the organizations expand their work to the Olympic, West Valley and West LA divisions.

The nonprofits will expand in areas where there is a "gap" in unarmed response coverage, according to a city report. There are five LAPD service areas with no unarmed response program — North Hollywood, Olympic, Topanga, West LA and West Valley.

A similar program, the Crisis and Incident Response Through Community-led Engagement (CIRCLE), recently expanded to provide more coverage on the Westside.

Councilwoman Nithya Raman said that Unarmed Model of Crisis Response has a quicker response time, about a 27-minute response time, compared to CIRCLE teams, which has a 31-minute response time. Though, she added that CIRCLE teams are handling more than 100 calls a week.

City News Service contributed to this report.