Columbus leaders outline expansion of non‑police crisis responses, commission outside review

Council President Harden and city staff on Wednesday detailed Columbus’s network of alternative crisis response programs and announced a contracted assessment to guide a planned non‑police response pilot.

The presentations — from Columbus Public Health, the Division of Public Safety, Columbus Police and community providers — reviewed co‑response teams such as the Mobile Crisis Response (MCR), the REACT overdose teams, the SPARC social‑services outreach teams, and the Right Response Unit (RRU) embedded in 911. Deputy Director Michael Halloran of the Department of Public Safety told council the city’s budgeted estimate for 2025 is “a little bit over $7,500,000” covering 45 positions across safety and health departments.

The review and recommendation work will be done by Mission Critical Partners, an outside consulting team the city hired to assess existing programs, advise on administration and governance, and recommend how to pilot a fully non‑police response option. Bonnie Mainy, senior adviser for Mission Critical Partners, said the firm will gather qualitative and quantitative data, hold listening sessions and publish a practical, phased report in mid‑summer after on‑site work and stakeholder interviews.

Why it matters: Council members and community speakers said quicker progress is needed because lives have been lost in crisis calls that proponents say could be handled by non‑police responders. City leaders…