In the wake of George Floyd’s murder, protesters nationwide called on governments to defund the police and divert resources to fund social service programs supporting citizens’ mental health. The city of Orlando responded by launching a pilot program to address those concerns. Law enforcement agencies in Denver, Tampa, and Knoxville have launched similar programs.
“Police were limited with what their responses were,” said Captain Lovetta Quinn-Henry, who oversees the Orlando Police Department’s Community Response Team (CRT) pilot program.
What is the Community Response Team?
The team consists of five health experts with case management and mental health backgrounds. All respond to non-violent emergency calls instead of armed officers.
“As we were looking at our community policing, we’re aware that there were some calls that didn’t need somebody with a badge and a gun,” Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer said. “They would be better served as somebody with mental health skills or to respond to those calls.”
“If the team can go out and the team could connect individuals with those mental health providers or community services, maybe they won’t get to a point where they’re very acute, and now dangerous or self-harming,” Quinn-Henry said.
Since March, CRT has responded to 549 calls and none resulted in arrests. 129 people underwent court-ordered mental health evaluations.
The 12-month pilot program cost $446,440, and none of the funds came from the police department’s budget. Instead, the city’s general funds bankrolled the program.
“It was new money, new funding. So additional funding,” Dyer said. “We thought we could identify specific calls that the mental health professional would be better suited for. I will say that our county government, Sheriff’s Office, chose the other approach.”
What is the Behavioral Response Unit?
Outside of Orlando city limits, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office introduced a co-responder model, where deputies and mental health experts respond to calls.
Within the first six months of its 12-month pilot program, the Behavioral Response Unit (BRU) answered 866 calls. None of the calls resulted in arrests. Instead, BRU recommended 28 people for mental health evaluations.
Similar to the city of Orlando, funding for BRU did not come out of the sheriff’s office budget. The Orange County board of commissioners provided additional funding for the program.
OPD and OSCO said they consider the pilot programs successes, and plans are in the works to continue and expand these models moving forward.