City Council

(16) 22-0979 PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE REPORT relative to a status update on the development of a multi-year plan for unarmed response; and policy considerations for creating an Office of Unarmed Response (OOUR); and related matters. Recommendations for Council action: CONFIRM the City’s primary objectives for alternative response and the intended purpose of an OOUR, as outlined in the City Administrative Officer (CAO) report dated May 15, 2023, attached to Council file No. 22-0979. INSTRUCT the CAO to develop, within the next 120 days, a robust performance management and evaluation program for the Unarmed Model of Crisis Response Pilot (UMCRP), and, if implemented, to monitor and gather key insights from the successes and opportunities from the pilot year; and, include all current models in their robust performance management and evaluation program for the UMCRP. INSTRUCT the CAO to report to Council, within the next 120 days, on all funding the City is allocating to all programs that fall under Alternative and Unarmed responses and any duplicative services; and include the preliminary value for the dollar in regards to the efficacy of the program (for example - what is the value of a mediation program as opposed to having interventionists, what is the value of a peace ambassador compared to other alternatives, etc.); and compare this to the current public safety system; and compare how the program improves the City’s response toward people’s feelings of being unsafe. INSTRUCT the CAO, in consultation with the Chief Legislative Analyst (CLA), the Mayor’s Office of Community Safety, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), and other partners, to report to Council within 90 days, on progress to determine which 9-1-1 call types are appropriate to divert to alternative response models, and specifically: Which of these calls should be assigned to an OOUR. Which of these calls are currently addressed by existing programs, which may be addressed by expanding existing programs, and which would require new programs. INSTRUCT the CAO, in consultation with the CLA, the Mayor’s Office of Community Safety, the LAPD, and other partners, to report to Council with regular updates to the City’s alternative response framework based on the shared vision, including: Reports on key leadership decisions and community feedback. Updates on potential costs and timeline for program expansion. Analysis of current programs’ performance metrics and data. AMEND the “Primary Objectives for Alternative Response” section contained in the CAO report dated May 15, 2023, attached to the Council file, to update and rearrange the order of objectives, and add an additional objective (Primary Objective No. 4), respectively, as follows: Primary Objective No. 1: Reduction in use of force incidents in all calls and involvement of the criminal justice system. Primary Objective No. 2: Improve the efficacy of sworn police officer deployment and review the scope of work of the LAPD. Primary Objective No. 3: Improve social and mental health services for individuals in crisis or for select demographics (i.e. people experiencing homelessness). Primary Objective No. 4: View public safety in a more holistic way (i.e. looking at why people are concerned or frustrated with the current system, are people housed or facing food insecurity, etc.).