ANN ARBOR, Mich. (WXYZ) — Not long after the City of Ann Arbor began considering the idea of an unarmed response to public safety calls, a small group of people, including public health professionals, community activists, and church leaders, started looking at ways to provide that alternative to traditional policing.
"When a gun is present, there's always the capacity for it to escalate to violence. And no matter how much you want to reduce the odds that might happen, it is still possible when that gun is there and not possible when it is not," said University of Michigan Dr. William Lopez, a founding member of the Coalition for Re-envisioning Our Safety (CROS).
CROS members say they are focused on creating a program that allows citizens to contact them with concerns and issues that they could respond to and resolve without involving police or armed individuals.
"The goal is for everyone to have someone that they can call for help. We know currently, there are a lot of folks who are uncomfortable calling 911," said founding coalition member Ryan Henyard.
Rev. Donnell Wyche, who pastors at the Vineyard Church of Ann Arbor, said the program might look like a 24-hour call center that is tied into Metro 911 dispatch. And when unarmed response is appropriate, a team from CROS can be dispatched to provide "care-based" public safety.
"There are lots of ways where a non-police, unarmed response is important in our community," Rev. Wyche told 7 Action News. "Who's going to help you negotiate your property line dispute? You don't want to call someone with a gun to say, 'Hey, this fence is three or four inches over my property line,' or a dog that's barking incessantly. You don't want to, again, bring the full weight of the state into a conversation like that, but we don't have that choice."
Lisa Jackson, chair of the Ann Arbor Independent Community Police Oversight Commission, can envision the coalition's work in action.
"There are cases where an unarmed response might be really helpful. Public urination? Do you need an armed person to respond to that? When you have a person who's unhoused sleeping in a doorway? Do you need to have a police presence for that? Do you need an armed person to respond to that?" she said.
"One of the things that our commission realized is that having an unarmed response program to respond to a wide variety of calls would actually free up the police department to handle things that are criminal in nature and not necessarily civil infractions or things for which you might get a ticket," Jackson said.
Ann Arbor Police Chief Michael Cox said, "Whether it's this coalition or anybody else, I'm always going to be for anybody who is trying to positively impact the community in some way."
In June, some Washtenaw County Sheriff deputies will participate in pilot program that pairs them up with a mental health specialist.
"I've always said I think there's a place for alternative response, but we need to be really thoughtful and deliberate in terms of how we figure out what that place is," Sheriff Jerry Clayton said, adding that oftentimes they don't know the what the need is or level of danger before they can arrive at any location and assess the situation.
Right now, the coalition is aiming to begin their work in Ann Arbor with $3.5 million that has been allocated to implement an unarmed response system.
"We are only seeking funding that aligns with our values and making sure that that funding doesn't come with strings that prevent us from reaching the kind of community goals that our committee members have told us are important," said Henyard.
Community activist and founder of Survivors Speak Trische Duckworth said she's encouraged by the goals of the coalition and calls them an "amazing bunch of warriors."
"I just think that it's best if we make sure that we're always checking in with those who are impacted most," Duckworth said, referring to anyone struggling with mental illness. "We need to start at ground level with them so that we can make sure that any policy that is shaped, is shaped with the needs of the people."
More information on Coalition for Re-envisioning Our Safety can be found on its website.
