Daly City Council approves Measure Q funds to create police mental-health crisis response unit

Daly City’s City Council voted unanimously July 22 to establish a permanent police mental-health crisis response unit, approving the use of $318,617 in Measure Q funds to hire two full‑time clinicians and buy two dedicated vehicles. The department estimates the unit will cost about $578,617 annually; $260,000 of that amount was already budgeted for the current fiscal year.

Police Department staff told the council the unit would include a crisis response supervisor and a crisis response clinician who would work in a co‑response model with officers, monitoring police radio and responding either by dispatch or by attaching to calls when clinicians’ services would be beneficial. The department said the pilot program was run in collaboration with San Mateo County Behavioral Health and Recovery Services, nonprofit StarVista and the Stanford Gardner Center.

“The Stanford Gardner Center found that involuntary psychiatric detentions decreased approximately 17 percent throughout the pilot program,” the police presenter told the council, citing the countywide evaluation. Staff also reported that during the two‑year pilot Daly City clinicians responded to 463 calls for service and that there were 769 involuntary psychiatric detentions in the same period, which department leaders said demonstrated the need for expanded clinician coverage.

Council members pressed staff on operational details and data collection. The police presenter said the department will use its records management system to track calls and outcomes and that clinicians already use a survey form to capture demographic and outcome data not recorded in the incident system. The presenter also described officer training and the program’s role in de‑escalation and reducing repeat acute incidents.

Council members repeatedly voiced support for continuing and expanding the model. One council member asked whether the unit would operate seven days a week; staff said the initial coverage would be Monday through Friday with plans to expand hours and days as demand and staffing permit. The motion to hire the two positions and appropriate the Measure Q funds passed on a roll-call vote with all council members voting aye.

The council asked staff to return with ongoing analytics and reporting so elected officials could assess the program’s impact over time.