Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Public Health Response topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Reno police describe MOST team outreach; council hears limits and funding needs
Summary
Reno Police and MOST (Mobile Outreach Safety Team) presented their crisis‑response model to council, describing clinician‑officer co‑response, phone follow‑ups for suicidal calls and goals to expand coverage. Council members pressed for more funding and stronger regional coordination with the county for long‑term care.
Reno police and the city’s Mobile Outreach Safety Team (MOST) told the City Council on Sept. 10 that clinician‑officer co‑response has reduced violent confrontations during mental‑health calls and allowed for more follow‑up care, but staff said the team needs more funding and regional cooperation to meet demand.
Chief Jason Nance and program lead Christy Butler briefed council on MOST’s operations: daytime clinicians routinely ride with officers to jointly respond to calls; swing‑shift clinicians self‑deploy on high‑need calls; and many suicidal‑subject responses are handled via rapid clinician phone contact followed by next‑day in‑person follow‑up when it reduces the risk of forcing a violent interaction. Butler said MOST completed about 3,000 contacts last year but only 198 resulted in civil mental‑health holds; the majority of contacts were handled by phone.
Councilmembers praised MOST’s work but said the broader system needs investment. Members and the mayor pressed for more clinicians, better regional planning and a stronger role for county‑run behavioral‑health and court programs, citing recurring encounters with seriously ill people who cycle through criminal courts and jails because the region lacks sufficient inpatient or long‑term treatment capacity.
Butler and Chief Nance described regional coordination efforts: MOST teams meet with counterparts in Sparks and Washoe County, share “familiar‑voices” lists for frequent users and collaborate with community partners such as Crisis Support Services. Councilmembers asked staff to pursue dedicated funding, to work with the county on shared solutions and to return with a proposal for possible additional MOST clinicians funded by city discretionary or grant dollars.
Council members also discussed the difficulty of long‑term outcomes: MOST helps stabilize people in crisis but cannot substitute for more inpatient beds or state court pathways that restore competency for people involved in serious criminal cases. Council asked staff to pursue follow‑up meetings with county leaders and court partners to explore regional responses.
Police and MOST leaders said they would return with a plan for program expansion, including an October rollout of a voluntary mental‑health registry that will allow families and caretakers to register concerns for first‑responders and to communicate relevant clinical details before an emergency call.
The briefing was informational; the council took no immediate budget action.
