Contrary to the anti-liberal rhetoric of its undersized governor, a Florida city is so pleased with a program it implemented in 2021 to cut down on the number of non-criminal calls its police officers respond to that it’s city council has voted to expand the program, WTSP CBS-10 in Tampa Bay reports.
In response to the BLM protests of 2020, St. Petersburg, Florida instituted a program in 2021 that would send social workers, mental health professionals and/or other non-armed professionals to 9-1-1 calls that did not present an immediate physical danger to the caller or another. The city found that the non-police workers were able to spend more time with the person in need and help them to successfully de-escalate the situation while assisting them to find available solutions to pressing problems. Although no firm data was presented, advocates say the program has cut down on the number of arrests, the number of calls police must respond to, and the number of repeat calls to the same residence.
With the endorsement of the St. Petersburg Police, the city council will vote Thursday to increase the budget of the program from $1.2 million to $1.6 million, allowing the program to increase its hours of operation beyond its current 8 a.m. to midnight window to operate at least until 2 a.m. seven days per week.