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DeSoto police plan community crisis response team; care‑team grant funding extended while pilot is developed
Summary
Sergeant Warren Summers and police staff outlined plans to expand the department’s care team into a community crisis response pilot that would respond while people are in crisis. The department has extended existing county grant funds and is developing a budget and framework for a pilot that could require additional non‑labor startup funds.
At the April 14 special meeting the DeSoto Police Department described plans to expand its existing care‑team services — which provide pre‑ and post‑crisis outreach — into a community crisis response capability that would respond while a person is actively in crisis.
Sergeant Warren Summers, identified in the meeting as the regional care‑team coordinator, said the department completed a needs assessment with partner cities and has drafted a framework for a crisis response team. Summers listed three early goals the department set in January: add geriatric services to the care team, strengthen victim advocacy (including human‑trafficking intervention), and expand juvenile truancy and behavioral‑health services.
Summers said most current staff functions exist within the department but that the pilot would likely need one to two additional staff positions and non‑labor startup funding. He presented a non‑labor start‑up range of approximately $548,000 to $591,000 as a planning figure; Summers and city staff emphasized those are draft estimates that will be refined. The department said it already has $226,000 in county funds originally available through April 2025 and reported the city successfully negotiated an extension of that grant to May 2026 while it develops the pilot.
Council members asked for clarity on whether the model would include clinicians at dispatch and how the crisis‑response unit would interact with 911. Chief Joe Costa and staff said the intent is to develop triage criteria so dispatch can route appropriate calls to a clinician or a specialized response instead of defaulting to a standard armed patrol response. City staff said they would return with a specific plan and budget proposals for council review; the department said it is open to adding a paramedic or other partners depending on the final model.
The department also noted homeless support and other social‑services partnerships would be integrated with the crisis team’s work. Summers and police leaders said they will continue to seek grant funding and to present a refined plan and cost estimate to the city manager and council for possible inclusion in the next budget cycle.
Ending: Staff said they will present a formal framework and refined budget to the city manager and council for consideration; no formal appropriation or staffing decision was made at the meeting.
