Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott announced last week that he wants police to focus on violent offenders and said officers should not be handling calls for people having behavioral health issues.
He announced a new pilot program to divert those 911 calls – averaging about 36 a day – to specialized counselors, CBS reports.
“Think about the sheer number of hours that our police officers are actually out dealing with something that they’re not trained to do, versus being out there going after someone who’s committed an armed carjacking,“ he said.
The new 911 program will start next month and will not cost the city additional dollars, as Baltimore already has contracts with the nonprofits providing the counselors.