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DeSoto moving toward city‑based crisis response team for mental‑health 9‑1‑1 calls, chief says
Summary
Chief Joe Costa said the department is piloting a city-based crisis response team to handle mental-health–related 9‑1‑1 calls, led by Sergeant Summers; the unit will include plainclothes officers with conspicuous badges and is intended as a DeSoto pilot rather than a regional team.
Chief Joe Costa said the DeSoto Police Department is developing a crisis-response team to handle mental-health emergency calls and that Sergeant Summers will oversee the effort.
At the town hall, a resident asked whether the city is moving toward a specialized team for mental-health 9‑1‑1 responses. Costa said the department will present a short update to the city council and is "moving toward a crisis response team, which is an emergent team, a 9‑1‑1..." He said the team will include an officer in plain clothes who conspicuously displays a badge for safety, and the initial model will be a city pilot rather than a regional deployment.
Why it matters: crisis-response teams are increasingly used to connect people in mental-health crisis to appropriate services while aiming to reduce the need for armed uniformed responses and to improve outcomes for residents.
Costa said the care team already exists and that the proposed crisis-response team will build on that model; Sergeant Summers, who heads the care team, was identified as the person who will lead the pilot.
Ending: Costa said the city will present details to the city council and pilot the team within DeSoto; no regional agreement or operational start date was given at the town hall.
