LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Starting July 1, the Crisis Call Diversion Program in Louisville will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
The pilot program first launched in March 2022 in the 4th Division of Louisville Metro Police (LMPD). Since then, it's expanded to every division and is currently open 16 hours every day, seven days a week.
“I could not be prouder that our Deflection program, which was created right here in our city by our city employees and partners, will now be a 24-hours-a-day service, just like 911 calls for Police, Fire and EMS,” said Emergency Services Executive Director Jody Meiman.
Since it launched, the program has handled about 4,000 calls officials said. According to data from Seven Counties Services, the average call in April was 13.5 minutes, and the longest call was 80 minutes. In May, the average call was 13.6 minutes, and the longest was 71 minutes.
The data also showed the average intervention time in April was 56 minutes, with an average 15 minutes for dispatch; the longest intervention recorded was 169 minutes. For May, the average intervention time was 55 minutes with an average 15 minutes for dispatch; the longest intervention was 186 minutes.
The 4th Division saw the most number of calls in in April with 80 total, and there were 68 calls in both the 1st and 4th Division in May according to the data.
“The Deflection model has helped our officers focus more on crime-related incidents and better allocate our resources, which in turn, assists our residents and visitors," LMPD Deputy Chief Steven Healey said. "Sometimes a call simply does not warrant a police response. We support the expansion of the Deflection program, and we are grateful that citizens are receiving the appropriate services they need to assist them."
Starting July 1, officials said Seven Counties Services will have 46 members dedicated to the Deflection program, including 13 Crisis Triage Workers at MetroSafe and 27 Mobile Crisis Responders in the field.
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