NEW APPROACH

Los Angeles City Council Votes to Establish Unarmed Force to Handle Nonviolent 911 Calls

The crisis team would respond in place of the LAPD.

The Los Angeles city council voted Wednesday to establish an unarmed crisis team that will respond to 911 calls regarding nonviolent crimes in place of police officers. The council voted unanimously in favor of the resolution, originally introduced in June. Council President Nury Martinez said in a statement, “Through this unarmed response pilot for non-violent calls, we will help Angelenos get the mental health and other support services they need from trained professionals. We will also free up police officers to do the work they are trained to do.” The council had voted to slash the LAPD’s multibillion-dollar budget by $150 million earlier in the year. The move follows nationwide calls to reform law enforcement, including the Minneapolis city council’s decision to pull nearly all financing from the municipal police department.