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Lee's Summit outlines co‑responder program for mental‑health crisis calls; callers may request co‑responders via 911
Summary
A recorded segment described the city's co‑responder program: specially trained crisis‑intervention officers paired with licensed, unarmed mental‑health professionals respond to mental‑health crisis calls; citizens can request the unit when calling 911.
In a recorded briefing included in the Jan. 22 transcript, an unnamed Lee's Summit police speaker described the city's co‑responder intervention program designed to better handle mental‑health crises.
The speaker said specially trained crisis‑intervention officers now frequently respond with co‑responders—licensed mental‑health professionals who wear plain clothes and do not carry weapons—to interact on scene and connect people to services. "Our main goal as co‑responders is to get people connected to the services that they need and also divert from emergency rooms and jails," the speaker said. The segment emphasized practical steps responders take on scene (safety planning, connecting to urgent care, arranging support contacts) and encouraged callers to explicitly request a co‑responder when dialing 911: "All you have to do when you call 911 is ask for us."
The segment aimed to inform community members that co‑responders exist, how to request them and that the unit's role is crisis de‑escalation and service linkage rather than enforcement.
Because the recorded segment uses unnamed speakers, quotes in this article are attributed to an unidentified Lee's Summit police speaker as presented in the transcript.
