Toronto’s first-ever mental health crisis response teams to launch in March
The teams will dispatch nurses and mental health support workers instead of police officers to respond to 911 calls about people in crisis.
Police reform
Philadelphia becomes first major U.S. city to ban police from stopping drivers for low-level traffic violations
Black drivers, who comprise 48% of Philadelphia’s population, accounted for 72% of the nearly 310,000 traffic stops by police officers between October 2018 and September 2019.
Tehran police will no longer arrest women for failing to observe Islamic dress code
For nearly 40 years, women in Iran have been forced to cover their hair and wear long, loose garments.
New York City is removing policing from city schools
The city’s 5,000 school safety agents will be transferred from the supervision of the New York police department to the Department of Education in June of next year.
City of Madison will begin sending specialists to non-violent mental health calls instead of police
Madison’s CARES (Community Alternative Response to Emergency Situations and Services) team will feature two paramedics from Madison Fire Department, as well as two representatives from the Journey Mental Health Facility in Madison.
Oakland to launch alternative response program for nonviolent 911 calls
Following successful alternative policing programs in Denver and Newark, Oakland, California is the latest city to adopt such a program with an initiative to redirect nonviolent, noncriminal calls to mobile teams of civilians.
Denver’s unarmed 911 response team arrested no one in its first 6 months
Denver’s new Support Team Assistance Response responded to 748 incidents, with not a single one of them requiring police or leading to arrests or jail-time.
No Newark police officers fired a weapon while on duty in 2020
Newark police and city officials say their de-escalation training program is working, with not one officer firing his or her weapon while on duty in 2020.
Anchorage introduces team of mental health first responders
Starting next year in Anchorage, Alaska, a new team of mental health first responders will replace police for emergency calls for someone with a mental health issue. The Mobile Crisis Team is funded by a new local alcohol tax and the team is trained to be dispatched to situations police do not have adequate training to address.
New York City will try a police-free approach to addressing mental health crises
Thanks to a new pilot program, 911 calls in New York City that are evidently mental health-related will be taken care of by mental health and crisis workers instead of law enforcement. The move is the result of months of protests around the country over police brutality, sparked by the tragic death of George Floyd.