Columbus council hears report recommending civilian crisis‑response unit, phased pilot and stronger coordination

Council President Hardin on Monday convened a joint hearing of the Rules, Public Safety, and Health & Human Services and Equity committees to review Mission Critical Partners’ assessment of Columbus’s alternative crisis‑response programs and to consider next steps toward a civilian, unarmed response option.

"First, it is time to establish a non armed, non uniform crisis response option," Council President Hardin said while introducing the report and its recommendations. The consultants’ 200‑page report lays out a 12‑part strategic framework and a menu of administrative models, and calls for a phased approach that includes a temporary braided coordinating body, a civilian response unit (CRU) pilot, and improvements to dispatch and data sharing.

The consultants, Jenna Streeter and Bonnie Mahaney of Mission Critical Partners, said Columbus already has multiple strong programs — the Right Response Unit (RRU), Mobile Crisis Response (MCR), React and Spark — but they operate more as a collection than an integrated system. "The meta problem here is that Columbus has a collection of really strong alternative response programs, but not an integrated system," the presenters said, citing…