The City of St. Petersburg, Florida will no longer send armed police officers to respond to suicides, drug overdoses, mental health crises or other non-violent calls, opting to send an “Community Assistance Liaison” (CAL) instead, according to a news release from the city’s police department.
The newly created position of CAL is one of a number of steps the St. Petersburg Police are taking in an attempt to reduce involvement of armed police in situations that do not necessarily require an armed response.
The department stated that CALs will respond to a number of non-violent requests for assistance such as:
- Disorderly intoxication
- Drug overdose
- Intoxicated person
- Mental health crisis
- Suicide crisis
- Mental Health Transport
- Disorderly juvenile/truancy
- Disorderly Juvenile at Elementary Schools
- Panhandling
- Homeless complaints
- Neighborhood dispute
Armed officers will be called to any violent or life-threatening situation, and will be available to CALs should a situation escalate.
These calls account for approximately 5% of the calls for request into the St. Petersburg Police in 2019. The new policy will be implemented October 1st.
In addition, the department will increase training to employ non-escalation techniques as well as increased training in self-defense tactics.