Since 2020, community responder (CR) programs have exploded across the United States. CR programs dispatch specially trained, unarmed professionals to handle low-risk 911 calls related to poverty, mental health, substance use, or verbal disputes. Using de-escalation, conflict resolution, and behavioral health skills, CR teams connect people to services and follow-up care—addressing the root causes of issues, improving long-term outcomes, reducing the potential for harmful interactions and city liability, and freeing up frequently overworked and understaffed police to focus on serious crime.
To track this movement, LEAP has created a map with information on every CR program in the nation. We found that the landscape has grown from six programs in 2019 to 89 programs today—including 22 “high-volume” programs that take more than 3,000 calls off the plate of the police every year. Nationwide, community responders are now responding to more than 200,000 calls per year, with zero fatalities or serious injuries. Scroll for more insights from this nationwide data and to learn how your community can get involved.