Boston City
Councilors Michelle Wu, Lydia Edwards, and Julia Mejia File Ordinance to
Establish An Unarmed Community Safety Crisis Response System
Boston, MA— Today Boston City Councilors Michelle Wu, Lydia Edwards, and
Julia Mejia have filed an ordinance that would establish an unarmed Community
Safety crisis response system to divert nonviolent 911 calls for service away
from the Boston Police Department to an alternative response from non-law
enforcement agencies.
As the deaths of George Floyd and many others have highlighted
nationwide racial disparities related to public safety practices, local
governments can respond by implementing a more holistic public safety
infrastructure that is integrated with public health.
The Boston Police Department routinely responds to nonviolent
calls for service involving mental health, homelessness, substance use, and
traffic crashes, which are matters beyond the scope of law enforcement’s
function and would be better served by a public health response.
The ordinance that Councilors Wu, Edwards and Mejia filed calls
for the City of Boston to develop a systemic Community Safety crisis-response
plan for nonviolent emergency calls within 90 days to directly connect people
in need to City- or community-based service providers and replace law
enforcement presence in nonviolent, non-criminal situations with a range of
unarmed service providers, including health care professionals, mental health
workers, outreach workers specializing in outreach to residents experiencing
homelessness, and other unarmed professionals with specialized training.
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