Columbus is several years into implementing alternative forms on crisis response that don't involve sending a police officer to every emergency call.
Columbus has several alternative crisis response teams that provide alternative avenues to address mental health crises, drug overdoses and other situations that may not require a uniformed, armed officer. These include the the Right Response Unit (RRU), Rapid Response Emergency and Addiction Crisis Team (RREACT), Specialized Program Assessing Resource Connectivity (SPARC) and the Mobile Crisis Response (MCR).
Another resource available to citizens is the 988 Suicide Hotline that launched last year nationwide.
The Columbus City Council Public Safety Committee took stock of the successful programs it has implemented at a public hearing Tuesday.
Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther said these units help relieve pressure on police. He calls the Right Response Unit's progress in particular "tremendous."
"So far this year, the Right Response Unit has triaged over 3,000 calls. This volume helps to explain why we implemented a second shift last fall. Nearly 30% of calls handled by this unit did not require a police response whatsoever," Ginther said.
Ginther, Council President Shannon Hardin and Councilmember Emmanuel Remy oversaw the hearing. They heard from representatives of each unit and their success during the past three years.
Ginther said these units not only relieve stress on police, but also the city's reliance on EMS and other emergency services.
"Police play an important role, but they can't do it all, nor should we ask them to," Ginther said.
Ginther and the other officials mentioned several statistics highlighting the success of these teams.
- For the RRU, about 30% of the 3,000 calls were triaged to avoid sending patrol officers.
- The units saves patrol officers about 1,000 hours, freeing up time for them to focus on violent crime.
- Calls to the city's non emergency line rose to about 1,500 a month after only getting a few hundred calls a month when it launched.
- The MCR team had 250 referrals in the last year.
Hardin said he expects the impact of these units to only grow in the coming years.
