Social Workers Instead of Police? Denver’s 911 Experiment Is a Promising Start (CO)

A 911 dispatch looks about the same no matter where you are in the U.S.: sirens, strobe lights atop police cruisers, and first responders armed with guns and pepper spray, the reason for the call notwithstanding. But if you dial 911 in Denver, you might be greeted instead by a mental-health clinician and a paramedic driving a customized van equipped with food, water, and blankets. For the past six months, the city’s Support Team Assisted Response program, known as STAR, has been dispatching social workers instead of cops on nonemergency calls, with astoundingly good outcomes… READ MORE