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SAFE team credited with improving responses to mental‑health calls in South County
Summary
Presenters said the SAFE crisis‑response team, launched as a pilot and now scaled regionally, lets police focus on street duties while crisis workers handle mental‑health, homelessness and low‑level issues; presenters cited dispatch integration, field resources and thousands of calls handled annually.
Presenters at a regional briefing described the SAFE crisis‑response team as a key alternative to sending police officers to many mental‑health and low‑level crisis calls.
Aziz, who identified himself as "director of the safety," said SAFE is dispatched through the same system as police so officers can triage potential threats and clear scenes when necessary. "They're able to triage the safety level and comfortability of the team being able to respond to the call," he said, describing a process in which officers stage nearby and SAFE staff enter only after a scene is deemed safe.
The speakers said the program began as a…
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