LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Sending mental health experts to some 911 calls instead of police; it's an idea that gained momentum during the summer protests of 2020.
Louisville's version of that idea has now gotten off the ground and is said to have already proven to be a success.
Kelly Jones is the deputy director for Louisville Metro EMS. He said a program like this is vital.
"It was a very challenging thing to do something that wasn't easy. I enjoyed the challenge," Jones said.
It's called the Crisis Call Diversion Program, and it kicked off in Louisville Metro Police's Division Four in South Louisville on March 21, 2022.
In a 49-day period, 119 people were helped by what they call Crisis Triage Workers, saving police officers around 100 hours of response time.
"What we're finding is the police officers love it. And they recognize that they're not trained to have to handle every single situation," Jones said.
Emilie Dyer, the executive director at the Americana Community Center in the heart of the south end, said programs like these also help avoid any escalation at scenes.
"There's someone who's coming without a uniform, there's someone who's coming fresh and new into the response in the system," Dyer said.
She said the help from these triage workers goes beyond first response as they know the ins and outs of some of these cases.
"It's a lot to ask LMPD to have that knowledge base on top of managing general safety concerns," Dyer said.
Jones said there's a variety of situations these triage workers can be used in, like mental health or behavioral needs.
With $5 million committed to the program for the 2021-2022 time frame, he said now it's time they continue to show their success so they can keep expanding.
"We want to be a 24-hour service. We want to be there seven days a week," Jones said.
Dyer said she is hopeful they will expand the pilot project throughout the city and that it will be effective everywhere.
For more information on the program and their partners, click here.
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