Dial 911 in certain neighborhoods, report a nonviolent mental-health crisis, and an experimental team of specialists arrive instead of the police.
We spent the day watching this new team at work.
A few details to note: the program, modeled on the Cahoots program in Oregon, is funded by Prop C, a business tax passed in 2018. So this is not “defunding the police.” But it is an experiment in changing their role.
And consider that, as Chief William Scott told us, some police departments are eager for this sort of help. One study found that more than 20% of law-enforcement time is spent responding to and transporting people in a mental-health crisis.
Also, we worked hard to sort out the most ethical way to portray this work without violating the privacy of the people we filmed. We asked their permission, but because they were in distress, decided to blur their faces. All feedback welcome.
Thank you to @jmalt87, @casottile, and the @NBCNewsNow team for great teamwork on a complicated story.