CLEVELAND — During a prolonged Public Safety Committee hearing on "Tanisha's Law," Cleveland public‑safety officials described how the city currently handles mental‑health crises and where advocates say the system must change.

Lieutenant John Mullins told the committee the division currently lists about 175 officers with CIT‑related training (approximately 151 assigned to patrol) and seven full coresponse teams that pair a specially trained officer with a contracted clinician. The clinicians serving those teams are employed by Frontline Services and Mortis Taylor under contract arrangements distributed through the Adams Board, officials said.

Staff and sponsors gave training and staffing details: the basic CIT curriculum reported for academy training was described as 24 hours, the department provides four hours of crisis‑related training annually for all officers, and specialized SCIT officers receive an initial 40 hours plus additional annual refreshers. "We have officers who are specialized CIT trained and clinicians that work every day," Director Wayne Drummond said, calling the city's CIT work a strength.

Officials acknowledged operational limits. Coresponse teams primarily respond during daytime hours (seven teams reported working roughly 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.) and often perform follow‑up work rather than arriving live on scene. Officials gave evolving figures for live response: one exchange reported coresponse involvement in about 15.6% of CIT calls, while other statements cited historical increases from 2.3% (2020) to 54.3% (2024) and later percentages referenced for 2025. Committee members and sponsors noted that, while the numbers show growth, the majority of crisis calls are still not getting clinician‑only live responses citywide.

The administration told council it is committed to improving mental‑health flux within dispatch and has pledged to add "mental health" as a distinct dispatch option alongside police, fire and EMS. Officials said the Connect and Protect (BJA) grant funds a call‑type analysis and a plan to place mental‑health dispatchers within EMS after federal approval — but that analysis and federal steps remain incomplete and should inform large structural commitments.

Council members asked for specific operational documents: the city said it would provide clinicians' job descriptions and pay bands, the Adams Board contract amounts, district assignment logic, and call/time breakdowns by district. Sponsors and advocates countered that call‑type analysis should not delay initial staffing and a pilot for live clinician response.

What it means: Cleveland has invested in CIT and coresponse capacity, but advocates behind Tanisha's Law argue a separate city‑run structure and better dispatch integration are needed to scale clinician‑only, live responses. The committee requested written documentation from the administration to allow more detailed fiscal and operational review.

Sources: testimony to Public Safety Committee from Lieutenant John Mullins, Director Wayne Drummond, assistant directors, and public testimony from sponsors and advocates.