LOS ANGELES—Less than one-third of calls to the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) involving people experiencing a mental health crisis is being handled by a co-response team that includes a mental health clinician alongside a sworn officer, Police Chief Michel Moore told the Board of Police Commissioners Sept. 27.
The LAPD instituted a program last year to dispatch a mental health response team to certain calls. The unit is known as the Systemwide Mental Assessment Response Team (SMART). Previously, SMART units were used as secondary responders.
