Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin announced Thursday he hopes to spend $5 million over four years to develop a new team of professional crisis responders who would handle certain 911 calls instead of or in addition to police officers.
Bronin described the plan in an op-ed in the Hartford Courant, saying he would work with the Hartford City Council to create a civilian crisis response team that would address situations involving mental illness, emotional distress, trauma and addiction.
“In many of those situations, law enforcement should not be the first or only ones to respond. Many police officers would be the first to agree,” Bronin wrote.