Over the course of a week in June, three individuals in Baltimore died during encounters with police while experiencing a behavioral health emergency: Bilal “B.J.” Abdullah, shot on June 17; Dontae Melton, Jr., who became unresponsive while in custody; and Pytorcarcha Brooks, a 70-year-old woman, shot on June 25.
These tragic deaths make it clear that police officers are not the best responders to help people experiencing a behavioral health emergency. Such crises are generally not criminal events, and we need an approach that provides care and compassion. Baltimore needs a comprehensive emergency response system that provides effective care for people experiencing emotional distress and reduces unnecessary use of medical services and law enforcement.
What’s needed is a different kind of first responder: civilian emergency response teams.
These teams have already proven successful in other cities. They consist of trained community responders who immediately respond to non-urgent calls. Dispatched through 911, they show up with the tools, time and expertise needed to meet people where they are. Instead of red and blue flashing lights and guns, they bring calm conversation, a direct link to services and prevent things from escalating.
Look at Denver. Its STAR (Support Team Assisted Response) program has become a national model. In 2023 alone, STAR answered more than 7,000 calls, everything from welfare checks to people experiencing homelessness. Teams arrive in vans stocked with medical supplies, blankets and food. One team recently helped a man get an ID voucher, groceries, medications and a safe place to sleep.
Police should be freed up to focus on crime. A civilian emergency response team would help them do this. This cost-effective model also reduces the number of people being sent to emergency rooms or jail.
To be sure, Baltimore has been working hard to strengthen our behavioral health crisis response capability. Behavioral Health System Baltimore, which coordinates the city’s public behavioral health system, has built partnerships to enable faster, more effective behavioral health-specific crisis response.
Several key services are now available 24/7, such as the 988 helpline and mobile crisis services. For urgent behavioral health response, mobile crisis services are available 24/7 to support people of all ages experiencing a behavioral health crisis. Mobile crisis services are dispatched through 988 and bring licensed clinicians and peers with lived experience directly to the community to deliver on-site, therapeutic, urgent behavioral health care.
But gaps remain. We are still relying on high-intensity, high-cost interventions.
Civilian emergency response teams, dispatched by 911 and connected to existing urgent behavioral health services, would ensure Baltimore residents get a supportive response, quickly and safely. Police could stay focused on crime, while behavioral health responders could focus on what they do best: de-escalating behavioral health crises and providing clinical care.
Building a strong civilian emergency response team will take sustained investment in staffing, training and coordination, as well as a commitment from leaders to prioritize cross-agency collaboration. But the alternative — more lives lost, trust eroded and communities left reeling — is far more costly.
No single entity can manage this alone. It requires trust and true partnership across behavioral health, public safety, civic and community organizations.
Baltimore deserves an emergency response system that meets people where they are, with dignity, respect and real solutions before another life is tragically lost.
Crista M. Taylor is president and CEO of Behavioral Health System Baltimore.
