The Columbus Safety Collective Campaign Launches Community Crisis Response Amendment

The Columbus Safety Collective Campaign officially submitted The Community Crisis Response Amendment to the City of Columbus for review. The Campaign is working to place the issue on the City of Columbus’s next regular municipal election ballot scheduled for November 4, 2025. The amendment will provide the Department of Public Safety the authority to establish […]

Columbus Safety Collective Campaign Submits The Community Crisis Response Amendment to City Clerk, Aiming for 2025 Municipal Ballot

Columbus Safety Collective Campaign Submits The Community Crisis Response Amendment to City Clerk, Aiming for 2025 Municipal Ballot For Release: March 7, 2025 Contacts: media@cbussafety.org Columbus, OH – The Columbus Safety Collective Campaign submitted The Community Crisis Response Amendment to the city clerk for review today. The Campaign is working to place the issue on the City […]

‘Something has to change’: The police killing of Colin Jennings

‘Something has to change’: The police killing of Colin Jennings In late February, Jennings’ boyfriend called 911 and told the dispatcher the 26-year-old was in mental health crisis. Less than 15 minutes later, Jennings was dead, shot and killed by Columbus police. Read More at Matter News

Crisis on hold: Columbus City Council’s million-dollar non-police response team yet to take a call

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSYX) — Columbus City Council approved $1.2 million in February to create a nonpolice response pilot program for non-violent service calls that included responding to people having a mental health crisis. “We need individuals who are trained appropriately,” Disability Rights Ohio executive director Kerstin Sjoberg said. “Trained professionals that can respond to a mental […]

NBC4 Coverage of Alternative Response Hearing

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – Eight months after Columbus City Council announced it would aside money to pilot a nonpolice emergency response program, city leaders have yet to take the first steps toward implementing that program. From deploying mobile response teams of crisis-trained officers and mental health clinicians to embedding social workers in 911 call centers, […]

Columbus inches forward on plans for nonpolice response program, solicits proposals

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – Columbus City Council President Shannon Hardin hopes by the time the group returns from summer recess in September, it will be ready to pilot an emergency response program that doesn’t include police. September will mark over a year and a half since Hardin first announced funding for a nonpolice response program pilot for […]

NBC4 Coverage of the People’s Safety Forum (7/27)

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – The City of Columbus has programs in place to answer certain 911 calls with alternative responses to the typical police response, but some residents want the city to take those programs further. Some of the city’s alternative response programs have been around for more than three years, while one is still in its […]