02/26/2026
The Los Angeles City Council just made it official and they did it unanimously.
The city has permanently approved its program that sends trained mental health clinicians instead of armed officers to certain crisis calls.
Since launching in 2024 the Unarmed Model of Crisis Response has handled more than 17000 calls ranging from mental health emergencies to wellbeing checks. According to city data about 96 percent of those calls were resolved without police involvement.
Nearly all handled without a badge or a gun.
Councilmember Eunisses Hernandez who co authored the motion said the city cannot continue sending armed officers into mental health crises when the result has too often been loss of life and millions paid out in legal settlements.
She also pointed to a serious statistic. In 2023 more than one third of shootings by the Los Angeles Police Department involved someone experiencing a mental health crisis.
There is also the financial angle.
City leaders say it costs about 85 dollars per hour to dispatch LAPD officers to a call. A response from an unarmed crisis team costs about 35 dollars per hour.
Fewer officers on these calls.
Fewer high risk encounters.
Lower cost to taxpayers.
The program is no longer a pilot. It is now permanent policy in Los Angeles.
This is why we
