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Columbus Safety Collective seeks May 2026 ballot measure to create non-police crisis response
Summary
Chauna Wiley, co-chair of the Columbus Safety Collective, said the group is collecting signatures to place a May 2026 measure on the ballot that would fund a non-police response for behavioral-health and houselessness calls.
The Columbus Safety Collective is collecting signatures to place a May 2026 ballot issue before Columbus voters to create a non-police response system for behavioral-health, houselessness and substance-use calls, co-chair Chauna Wiley said at a forum hosted by the Columbus Metropolitan Club.
"We are running a campaign to put an issue on the ballot in May 2026 for a non police response system to mental health, behavioral health, our houseless community, the substance abuse community," Wiley said. She described the measure as intended to complement existing services, not replace them.
Wiley said local polling conducted by the collective shows about 80 percent support among residents for a non-police response. She also described the campaign as rooted in personal experience: Wiley said her brother died in 2017 after an interaction with Columbus police and that her advocacy on this issue began after his death.
The collective’s proposal would aim to ensure that someone trained in behavioral health — such as a clinician or peer supporter — responds when appropriate. Wiley said she is collecting signatures and hearing many accounts from residents who want a different emergency response for mental-health crises.
Panelists at the forum noted operational overlaps and said any city-level ballot measure would need to coordinate with county and statewide crisis infrastructure already underway, including 988, mobile crisis teams and the new Franklin County Crisis Care Center.
