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Consultant recommends tiered dispatch pilot, guaranteed‑income test and expanded community responders in Berkeley
Summary
At a March 10 special meeting, consultants from the National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform presented a final report urging a pilot tiered dispatch system (CERN), expanded non‑sworn responders for low‑level calls, transparency measures and reinvestment pilots including a guaranteed‑income trial.
The Berkeley City Council on March 10 heard a final report from the National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform recommending a stepwise redesign of how the city responds to many 911 and non‑emergency calls.
David Mohammed, director of the NICJR team, told the council the firm’s 300‑page final report and implementation plan recommends a tiered dispatch pilot that would route a small subset of low‑risk calls to trained, non‑sworn community responders rather than armed officers. "We recommend starting with a pilot," Mohammed said, calling the approach a way to ‘‘reduce, improve and reinvest’’ city public‑safety resources.
NICJR policy analysts described the evidence behind the proposal. A presentation by Nahali highlighted alternative response examples nationwide — such as…
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