How Indy is responding to mental health incidents without police
As interactions between police and those in mental health crises continue to produce fatal results nationwide, Indianapolis officials are now operating under a revamped system to ensure that every citizen's first point of contact is appropriate.
Why it matters: Indy's recently launched unified mental health response initiative attempts to curb how often Indianapolis police are called to manage matters unrelated to law enforcement.
It follows the 2023 rollout of the city's Clinician-Led Community Response (CLCR) team and the creation of the Mobile Crisis Assistance Teams (MCAT) in 2017.
The big picture: Local efforts coincide with a nationwide uptick in programs that replace police with mental health professionals in emergency responses. Backers of such efforts say these better-equipped teams can prevent police shootings and other fatal interactions that disproportionately affect communities of color.
According to a Washington Post estimate, 20% of victims in fatal U.S. police shootings since 2015 were experiencing a mental health crisis.
Driving the news: Indy first responders have been operating under the guidelines of the new system since earlier this year.
Zoom in: The 24/7 initiative is a joint response involving IMPD, IFD and IEMS personnel that kicks in when CLCR teams and MCAT are unavailable. It covers all IMPD districts.
How it works: It starts with a Metropolitan Emergency Services Agency (MESA) dispatcher who determines if the call is mental health-related, and if the scene is safe.
If there is danger or scene safety is unknown, IMPD becomes the lead agency while IFD and IEMS set up nearby.
If it is safe, IEMS and IFD lead and administer care as needed while IMPD provides support.
Following a call, individuals are connected with MCAT, CLCR teams or other local resources as needed.
What they're saying: "Making sure our community receives the best care requires teamwork," IMPD Chief Chris Bailey tells Axios. "This unified mental health response initiative allows us to connect our neighbors with the right resources at the right time."
"By partnering with MESA, IFD and IEMS, we can better assess complex situations and provide the most effective response. Every call is different, and I'm grateful for this collaborative effort."
Flashback: In April 2022, Herman Whitfield III died after being tased by IMPD officers as he suffered a mental health crisis.
The involved officers were indicted and ultimately acquitted last December after a five-day jury trial.
Whitfield's death spurred calls for local reform, leading Mayor Joe Hogsett's administration to allocate $2 million in American Rescue Plan Act money to create the CLCR program.
By the numbers: When the program went live in 2023, Bailey told IndyStar an estimated 80% of IMPD's radio runs were for issues like mental health that aren't built for law enforcement.
In 2024, the CLCR team took more than 925 calls and helped nearly 650 people, according to the city of Indianapolis.
The program expanded to the St. George Apartments on the near northside and IMPD's North District at the turn of the year, making it a resource for 192,000 additional residents.
It launched in IMPD's Downtown District in July 2023 and expanded to the East District in February 2024.
The city said that MCAT, meanwhile, responded to more than 2,700 mental health-related calls last year while conducting about 1,000 follow-up home visits after an incident.
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