LAPD chief sounds alarm over city’s mental health crisis, pitches plan to take burden off cops

Los Angeles Police Chief Jim McDonnell and mayor-elect Nithya Raman agree that mental health professionals should take a larger role in responding to 911 calls involving people in crisis. Their meeting found common ground on reducing the demands placed on police, amid a citywide mental health and homelessness crisis and uncertainty over whether Raman will keep McDonnell in his post.

McDonnell says about one-third of the LAPD’s 1.45 million annual calls concern mental health crises. Raman has proposed expanding unarmed crisis response, adding 911 operators and auditing the police department as part of her first 100 days; it is unclear whether she will build on the city’s existing CIRCLE programme, which sends unarmed teams to non-urgent calls involving homelessness. Los Angeles County has about 72,000 people experiencing homelessness, and the police union has supported clinician involvement when it is safe.