What changes in daily life if the response model changes?
The September 1, 2026 item is still a feasibility discussion, not a final routing policy. But the resident-level consequences are concrete enough to evaluate now: dispatch criteria, service hours, after-hours coverage, co-response rules, escalation to Police or Fire, and response time.
The existing baseline is also relevant. CCPD reported 48,311 calls for service in 2024; 113 were associated with a use-of-force incident, or about 0.23%. The department’s published training includes de-escalation, procedural justice, implicit-bias/racial-profiling instruction and crisis intervention. Those figures do not settle the policy debate, but they show the workload and practices of the service being restructured.
2020: review services, resources and responsibilities
The City’s Public Safety Review history says the Council initiated a 90-day review of options to reimagine public safety through shifting resources and reducing reliance on law enforcement to address community needs.
2021: staffing and non-police response
The City said the goal was to reduce the number of armed staff while maintaining service levels, and that further sworn reductions could be considered if programs such as Mobile Crisis reduced sworn workload without reducing public-safety service.
General Plan: policy, actions and metrics
City staff later documented that the original General Plan scope did not include a Reimagining Public Safety Element. GPAC discussed the issue in 2020, and a dedicated Policing and Public Safety Technical Advisory Committee was created to help develop a policy framework including policy, actions and metrics.
The 2023 staff report also said Police Department staff were not included in the review process and were not consulted during drafting of the element.
2023: the General Plan element is excluded
The Council voted 3–2 not to include the Reimagining Public Safety Element in General Plan 2045. Vera, Eriksson and O’Brien voted for exclusion; McMorrin and Puza voted against exclusion.
2026: the debate reaches 911 dispatch
In April 2026, the Council replaced the Police Subcommittee with a broader Public Safety Subcommittee by a 3–2 vote, with Puza, Fish and McMorrin in favor. Fish and McMorrin were appointed as members.
On September 1, 2026, File 27-248 put the “Feasibility to Dispatch 911 Calls to the Mobile Crisis Team” on that subcommittee’s agenda. The minutes are still draft.