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- Hello, sir! We hear you are in a crisis and we are here to help.
- Are the police coming?
- We don't think it's necessary. We are trained professionals for these kinds of situations!
- Thank you for making me feel safe and letting me be involved in my own care!
- Of course, ma'am! It's my job to take care of you!
- Hmm. That looks cool!
- Programs like CAHOOTS and PAM improve outcomes for mentally ill individuals
- Success Rates
- One example of an alternative program is Crisis Assistance Helping Out on the Streets (CAHOOTS) in Eugene, Oregon. This co-designed program sends extensively trained, unarmed professionals on mental health calls. This program drastically decreased the amount of police involvement.
- Only 1.3% of calls are related to mental health, yet police spend a majority of their time on them!
- DEFUND THE POLICE
- Another program, known as PAM, was developed in Sweden with the same intentions. This programs sends two specialized psychiatric nurses and a paramedic on mental health calls. Although police and rescue services are still utilized, patients reported much higher satisfaction rates.
- As of 2020, it costs about $800 per call to dispatch police. Our program, CAHOOTS is saving you money!
- Since highly trained professionals are sent, switching to programs such as these will mitigate negative outcomes from the widely used CIT models since there is less need to involve police altogether. However, these strategies raise some questions.
- CIT models are not working! They have been unsuccessful in diverting 911 calls to the appropriate services. What are the next steps?
- Many departments see these suggestions as a threat to police job security. However, these programs can alleviate some of the responsibility currently placed on them. Letting alternative services to respond to these calls allows police to attend to other public emergencies were they are more beneficial.
- Another argument is the financial feasibility of these programs. But if we look to CAHOOTS in Oregon, this co-designed program saves taxpayers about $8.5 million every year. Substantially reducing police involvement makes these programs more feasible than the ones currently in place.
- After reviewing literature and identifying gaps in research, it's clear this field needs more data before coming to any hard conclusions. However, it is obvious the United States' current, police-based models need reevaluation.
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