Fire station tour and police co‑responder program highlighted as calls for mental‑health response rise

Lee's Summit public‑safety leaders used the council meeting to showcase a new fire station and to explain the city’s behavioral‑health co‑responder program that teams licensed mental‑health professionals with police officers responding to crisis calls.

Assistant Chief Jim Eden and Battalion Chief Ben Hicks gave a guided overview of Fire Station 3 — built with 2016 bond proceeds and occupied in 2020 — highlighting living quarters, an on‑site gym, extractor machines for turnout gear, a workshop, the apparatus floor and the station’s ambulance and engine. Station leaders said the facility was designed for 48‑hour shifts, expanded sleeping capacity and operational flexibility; staff noted Station 3 has become one of the city’s busiest stations since opening.

Lee's Summit Police Department staff described the corresponder program, which embeds licensed behavioral‑health professionals with officers to co‑respond to mental‑health crises. An on‑scene co‑responder (identified in the meeting only as Allison) described duties: making contact after officers secure the scene, providing safety planning, connecting people to follow‑up services and attempting to divert people from emergency rooms and jails. Program staff said co‑responders don't carry weapons and wear plain clothes; they can be requested by callers through 911.

Police staff said mental‑health related calls have grown sharply: 722 such calls in 2020 increased to 1,479 in 2022, and the department is expanding training for crisis intervention officers and the number of co‑responders. Examples from staff described safety‑planning steps such as connecting individuals to urgent care for medication assessment, arranging support persons, and temporary measures like securing sharps or medications.

Council members used the tour and the corresponder explanation to underscore the city’s investment in emergency‑response infrastructure and the shift toward crisis‑intervention models that focus on treatment access instead of arrest or emergency‑department transport.

Staff asked residents to call 911 and specifically request a corresponder if they want that behavioral‑health professional to respond with police; program leaders emphasized that co‑responders aim to reduce incarceration and emergency‑room diversion by linking people to community treatment and supports.