New Cleveland Crisis Response Bureau Brings 'Compassionate Approach' To Public Safety

The Community Crisis Response Bureau, a new agency within the EMS division designed to act as a link between 911 dispatchers and the right kind of care for Clevelanders in the throes of mental health or substance abuse crises, will soon launch.

Its formation follows the passage of Tanisha’s Law , named after 37-year-old Tanisha Anderson, who a decade after 37-year-old Tanisha Anderson died in police custody a decade ago while experiencing a schizophrenic episode at her family’s home in Glenville.

Tanisha, as advocates of the law have argued, may still be alive today if those whom responded to the 911 dispatch call were more well-versed in dealing with mental health incidents.

In other words, a staff of trained clinicians, dispatched by a specialist embedded within EMS. Not cops strapped with guns or tasers.

This is “a compassionate approach to public safety,” Public Safety Director Wayne Drummond said in a press release.

“By strengthening the role of healthcare and behavioral health professionals in our emergency response system,” he said, “we can better connect residents in crisis with the right resources while allowing police officers to focus on situations that require a law enforcement response.”

Cities like Houston, San Francisco and Albuquerque, New Mexico have adopted similar bureaus or agencies in the past few years as alternatives to the traditional criminal justice model. Studies show that co-responders, as they’re typically called, take the load off police, judges, bailiffs, prosecutors and juries that would otherwise be needed in criminal procedures. And deliver better results to those needing help.

In New Jersey’s pilot program of its care response team, a whopping 98 percent of crisis-related cases that went to clinicians did not end up needing police dispatched. Same goes in Colorado, where the state’s own bureau cut down on police need: out of 25,900 incidents, little more than 500 of those calls required cops.

The city picked Maureen Malavé to spearhead the bureau as deputy commissioner. Previously, Malavé worked in HIV care in New York City; led nutrition programs for USAID; and helped create faith-based care programs for the Cuyahoga County Board of Health, her resumé details.

Details of how the bureau will exactly function are left to be decided, a press release said. Though Cleveland Police already have officers trained in crisis intervention, a standalone bureau would free up time and energy and place it in the hands of a single division.

One, Malavé said, tasked with leverging her own rolodex within Cleveland’s network of hopsitals and clinics.

“This work is about more than responding to a crisis in the moment,” she said in a release. “It is about creating stronger connections to healthcare and community resources, improving outcomes and continually evaluating how we can better serve Cleveland residents.”

The bureau is set to start operations this fall.