The Los Angeles City Council on April 25 recognized the first anniversary of the city’s unarmed crisis response pilot, a program partners said has handled more than 6,000 calls since its March 2024 launch and averaged roughly $35 per response.

Councilmembers and program partners marked the milestone during a presentation that included data on call volume, dispatch outcomes and costs. Presenters described the program as an alternative for nonviolent mental-health and behavioral-health emergencies; they said only a small share of dispatches—about 4%—required diversion back to police. City staff and nonprofit partners told the council the program links people in crisis to housing and wraparound services and that the approach aims to reduce violent outcomes and lower system costs compared with traditional police responses.

City staff introduced the partners and program specialists who responded to calls across neighborhoods. A crisis response specialist, Kiara Long, said she had been dispatched to more than 200 calls and described the range of incidents the teams handle, from large public disturbances to suicide interventions. Program partners recounted a July 2024 response to a veteran living outdoors with untreated psychosis that they said de-escalated after staff engaged the person and connected him to services.

Presenters provided budget context: they said the unarmed response program’s annual operating budget is about $14,000,000 and contrasted that figure with the Los Angeles Police Department’s larger budget (presenters referenced roughly $3.4 billion for the LAPD in oral remarks). Several councilmembers praised the program’s “preventive” approach and noted it was developed after a 2020 motion directing alternatives to armed responses for nonemergent calls.

No formal motion or vote on funding for the program was recorded during the presentation. Staff and nonprofit representatives said they expect continued discussion of program funding during upcoming budget deliberations.

The presentation closed with certificates and public recognition of the nonprofit partners and team members who operate the unarmed crisis response units.