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Community Safety Department reports early gains for non-police 9-1-1 response; staff plan staged expansion
Summary
The Community Safety Department told the Finance Committee May 8 that its unarmed care team has handled dozens of 9-1-1 calls since launch and is planning a staged staffing expansion aimed at stabilizing a five-day, 12-hour response before moving toward broader coverage.
The Community Safety Department presented a status update May 8 after a nine-month launch period that included collaborative training with police, fire, public health and other city offices. Interim Director Marie Matthews described the department's care-team work on 9-1-1 calls and non-criminal wellness and behavioral-health incidents.
What the committee heard: Matthews said the team's work is shaped around both call response and community follow-up. "We have done intensive training with every public-safety department and health partners," she told the committee, and described examples where clinicians and unarmed responders provided on-scene help, medical triage coordination, warm handoffs to social services, and transportation support.
Operational numbers: Matthews said the team responded to about 208 calls during its early months (July'December 2024) and handled 115 calls in March alone; staff said in many cases scene safety was established first by police or fire before the unarmed care team engaged. The department is staffed with clinicians and support personnel; that staffing model reflects the city medical director's guidance that licensed clinicians accompany calls covered by the program.
Expansion plans: the department is working to expand from its initial schedule to five days a week with longer daily coverage (a 12-hour coverage target was discussed). Matthews said staffing and recruitment are active priorities and that the city must add clinicians and support staff before moving to a 24/7 model. She said the department will provide a staffing plan and performance measures to the Finance Committee before additional budget requests.
Coordination with ECC and CPD: the 9-1-1 dispatch center routes eligible call codes to the care team; dispatchers have been offered ride-alongs and training to recognize calls appropriate for unarmed clinicians. ECC Director Christina Jacoby said dispatchers and community-safety clinicians are developing shared protocols and that weekly call analyses and shift-level supervisory review are regular features of the integration work.
Why it matters: Councilors praised the cross-agency training and emphasized the program's potential to reduce emergency-room transports and better meet behavioral-health needs. Staff warned that sustaining and expanding the model will require recruitment, staff supports to address trauma exposure, and continued joint training across city agencies.
Ending: the department will return with a staffing plan and specific metrics to guide any expansion beyond five days a week and to track the program's fiscal and service impacts.
