Two years after Los Angeles launched a pilot program that dispatched treatment teams from fire stations to mental-health calls, the city-county partnership is ending.
City authorities have cited low patient numbers and ongoing staffing difficulties as reasons for the break. County authorities have said they will continue the program without the city.
The Therapeutic Van Transport Pilot Program was touted as an innovative approach that would allow mental health workers to be embedded into the 911 system, therefore decreasing reliance on law enforcement.
When it was announced in 2020, then-L.A. Police Chief Michel Moore praised the program.
“Rather than looking to yet another program from LAPD, or LAFD, to engage in, it’s pulling things off of our plate and putting them with our mental health professionals,” Moore said at the time.
It was nearly another two years before the program was up and running.
Why it matters
Mental health advocates, lawmakers and law enforcement all have pushed for removing police as much as possible from psychiatric crisis calls. Tense situations can sometimes turn violent when law enforcement is involved.
A recent LAist investigation found that between 2017 and 2023, 31% of shootings by L.A. city police involved a person perceived by officers to be living with mental illness or experiencing a mental health crisis, according to annual use-of-force reports.
How the program worked
Five specially outfitted vans were dispatched out of five fire stations across the city. Each team was made up of a driver, a licensed psychiatric technician and someone who has personal experience with mental illness.
The goal…
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