The Phoenix City Council set an end-of-March deadline for crews that handle certain crisis calls without police officers, firefighters or paramedics to have availability around the clock.
Public Safety and Justice Subcommittee members are scheduled to get an update Wednesday on the Community Assistance Program.
The order to establish 24/7 dispatch coverage came down in September, months after civil rights investigators for the U.S. Justice Department said the city and its police discriminate against people with behavioral health disabilities.
City officials say the number of police calls transferred to crisis intervention supervisors spiked last year to roughly 2,000. There’s a supervisor available to work dispatch about two-thirds of the time.
Behavioral health units and crisis response teams are currently on the road for all but a combined seven-and-a-half hours per week.
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Part of a 2024 ballot measure that will create a state-level immigration system is set to take effect on Tuesday. -
A Tucson woman is suing the city of Tempe over its reaction to a social media post that led to the evacuation of City Hall and her arrest. The federal that alleges constitutional rights violations. -
Hundreds of firearms and thousands of ammunition were destroyed on International Firearms Destruction Day at a military base in the Mexican state of Sonora. -
Chandler police on Wednesday arrested a 48-year old doctor from Gilbert on suspicion of sexual assault and abuse last year. Court records appear to show a pattern of behavior with patients. -
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is demanding that automated vehicle developers keep their tech from interfering with police and firefighting activity.
