LAPD program diverting suicide calls to counselors expands to 24 hours
LA TimesA pilot program to divert 911 calls from people experiencing suicidal thoughts to certified mental health providers instead of Los Angeles police officers is being expanded into a 24-hour operation. The amended contract, approved by the civilian Police Commission on Tuesday, increases the LAPD’s one-year pilot with Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services from an eight-hour per day operation to an around-the-clock service. The Didi Hirsch pilot focuses on 911 calls from people who are “in suicidal crisis or in severe emotional distress,” and is aimed at reducing the number of encounters “between police and persons suffering from a mental health crisis by diverting nonimminent suicide calls” to Didi Hirsch crisis counselors. In recent months, Bixler said officials have found some city dispatchers weren’t redirecting calls to Didi Hirsch because they normally worked at times when the pilot wasn’t running and weren’t familiar with it, or because they were uncomfortable relying on the counselors to resolve matters that they felt a police officer might be better suited to handle.
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Los Angeles police union proposes limits to 911 responses
Associated Press
Los Angeles police union proposes limits to 911 responses
The Independent
Reformers want police to step back from mental health calls. The LAPD says it’s been trying
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