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San Ramon highlights behavioral-health response partnerships to reduce police involvement in crises
Summary
The State of the City presenter described partnerships with Contra Costa County, the Miles Hall call center and a firefighter-led behavioral health response that dispatches fire personnel first on some mental-health calls, with police as backup; the change aims to increase treatment access and free police for other calls.
A city official said San Ramon continues to expand alternatives to police-only responses for behavioral-health emergencies by partnering with Contra Costa County programs.
The speaker described the county’s Miles Hall call center (a 24/7 behavioral-health call center) and said dispatchers can hand off certain 911 calls to the center. The city official also described a firefighter-first behavioral health response in which fire personnel are dispatched first when there is no immediate danger; police stand by as backup when needed. The speaker said the approach treats many mental-health calls as medical concerns and increases treatment avenues for people in crisis while freeing police to respond to other public-safety needs.
“These changes have improved the care for those in a mental health crisis,” the city official said, adding the police department and fire partners have adapted dispatch protocols to better match response types to caller needs.
