D.C. Launches Pilot Pairing Mental Health Experts With Police 911 Calls

On May 18, 2021, District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser announced the upcoming launch of a six-month pilot program to shift 911 calls for emergency mental health services from an automatic police dispatch to a dispatch inclusive of a mental health crisis response. During the pilot, the D.C. Department of Behavioral Health's (DBH’s) unarmed Community Response Teams (CRT) will serve as specialized, rapid response units to be dispatched to mental health-related 911 calls, instead of the automatic deployment of police officers only. To prepare for the pilot, 911 operators received specialized training to help identify . . .