Committee approves making unarmed crisis-response pilot permanent; officials outline expansion, procurement and metrics

The committee voted to formalize the city’s unarmed crisis-response pilot as a permanent program and heard a data-driven update on the program’s operations, coverage and next steps for procurement and evaluation.

Councilmember Hernández and other committee members supported the move to institutionalize UMCR within the Department of Community Safety, saying pilot results show it reduces police involvement and is cost-effective. The committee took a roll-call vote and the motion passed 4–0.

Vanessa Willis, a member of the Office of the City Administrative Officer, presented performance metrics for the pilot. Willis said average dispatch-to-response times are about 27 minutes with on-scene worker time averaging about 19 minutes; roughly 3.8% of calls handled by the pilot so far have required redirection to police. Between September and February the fire department diverted 240 calls to the pilot for handling, Willis said. She also reported that the city’s 2024 data included roughly 9,600 psychiatric incidents and 8,600 other nonmedical incidents that the fire department judged potentially eligible for nonarmed response, which the presentation described as indicating up to about 18,000 calls that could be handled by UMCR-style responses if the model and coverage scale.

Willis outlined near-term procurement steps: the city has developed a request for qualifications to prequalify service providers; after the city budget is adopted (typically in June), the administration plans to issue solicitations and expects a transition and period of preparation in July–August 2026 so services could begin in September 2026, timed with the expiration of the current contract at the end of August 2026.

Council members pressed staff on operational integration and technology limits. Willis said the CATCH and CAD systems are not yet fully integrated, which reduces real-time visibility of some transfer and response metrics; she recommended continued interdepartmental collaboration and targeted technology modernization to support citywide expansion.

Battalion Chief Arthur Rengo, who described himself as having dispatcher experience, told the committee the multi-step dispatch path (911 → PCR → fire dispatch → UMCR/partner) can add transfer time and that recent dispatcher workshops resulted in sending 10 calls to UMCR during a single training session. He emphasized additional training and clearer dispatch protocols are needed to maximize safe diversions and limit unnecessary fire or EMS responses.

Committee discussion also addressed differences between city-based UMCR response and county FIT/DMH teams. Willis said county teams often operate regionally and conduct a triage evaluation before deploying, which can lengthen response times; the CAO’s office said it does not yet have a full breakdown from county partners on how many county responses result in county-bed transport and is pursuing additional third-party evaluation to measure impact and outcomes.

Speakers repeatedly urged better public awareness of the service and standardized performance evaluation. Several committee members and the mayor’s office representative praised Circle’s community partnerships and neighborhood-hosted sites, and staff said some Circle locations operate weekdays for case management and that teams follow individuals for roughly 19 days of outreach and engagement when appropriate.

What happens next: the CAO’s office will proceed with the prequalification and solicitation work tied to the budget calendar, pursue third‑party program evaluation, and continue cross-department work to improve dispatch integration and training. The committee adjourned after the presentation and questions.