The 988 Suicide and Crisis hotline was launched in 2022 to provide people in a mental health crisis with another hotline to call other than 911.
Starting this summer, staff from the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay will work in Tampa's police dispatch center to further refine 911 calls that don't need police involvement.
Police Deputy Chief Calvin Johnson says when officers have to respond to mental health crisis calls, it can be very difficult for them.
"There have been calls where officers, they try their best, they try and talk the person down, they try and find out what's going on, but the uniform is a barrier to that person understanding that we're there to help them out, and not to lock them up,” Johnson said.
Johnson hopes the connection with the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay will drastically drop the number of mental health calls officers have to respond to.
Six intervention specialists from the organization will now be housed in the police dispatch center. When a 911 call comes in with a mental health concern, it will be shifted to the specialist, who can connect the person with resources and help tailored to their behavioral health concern.
Crisis Center president and CEO Clara Reynolds says 50 to 70 percent of 911 calls have a behavioral health undertone, meaning the caller might need resources instead of police at their door.
“I think over time, when we really get to a good place and we figured all the pieces out, we're going to start seeing more and more calls come our way to deescalate, and ultimately, I would love to see more of our staff here to be able to provide that help and support," Reynolds said.
She also says the specialists working out of the dispatch center will also have similar training to 911 dispatchers, meaning they’ll be dual-trained.
“We're really going to have individuals that are going to have so many tools at their disposal to be able to deescalate and, ideally, keep law enforcement from ever having to be dispatched out to that individual's location,” Reynolds said.
She says they looked at other similar crisis call models, like in Austin, Texas, when launching the Tampa program.
Reynolds hopes the specialists will be in the dispatch center by early July.
On top of that, the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay will still have the 988 option available, with dozens of specialists working 24/7 on the hotline.
Johnson says the work the Crisis Center already does has made a significant difference for the police department.
“They have the tools, they have the education, they have the experience and know how to find out what's going on faster than us and law enforcement,” Johnson said. “So we embrace having them come inside the dispatch center.”
The program is paid for through a federal Department of Justice grant through the 2025 fiscal year.
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