This article draws from the work of the Los Angeles 988 center, the LAPD Mental Evaluation Unit, and their partners to explore what this looks like in practice and what other communities can learn from their journey.
From “Call 911” to a Shared Crisis System
For most of us, the “script” in a crisis has been simple since childhood: if something is wrong, dial 911.
The problem is that mental health crises are not always best served by a law enforcement-led response. When someone is suicidal or experiencing a behavioral health crisis, a uniformed officer, lights and sirens, and an involuntary hospitalization can feel traumatic, even when everyone is trying to help. Families may leave the encounter with stigma, bills, and more stress layered on top of an already frightening situation.
At the same time, officers have been clear: they did not sign up to be social workers. Their primary role is public safety. Standing alone in a living room with a person in crisis, surrounded by family and neighbors who are watching and expecting them to “fix it,” puts enormous pressure on officers and can lead to difficult decisions about the use of force, disengagement, or transport.
Mental crisis 911 diversion is about creating an alternative pathway. Instead of expecting 911 to be the single doorway into every kind of help, communities are creating an interconnected system where:
- 988 handles most suicide and behavioral health crises over phone, text, or chat
- Mobile crisis and co-responder teams provide in-person behavioral health care when needed
- Law enforcement focuses on public safety and high-risk situations, with strong behavioral health support
What Is Mental Crisis 911 Diversion?
Mental crisis 911 diversion is a structured process for identifying calls that are primarily about suicide or behavioral health, screening them for safety, and transferring them from 911 to 988 or another crisis line.
The goal is not to “take calls away” from law enforcement. It is to send each call to the responder with the best tools:
- If there is immediate danger, weapons, or medical instability, 911 remains the right place.
- If the primary issue is emotional distress, suicidal thoughts, or a behavioral health crisis, 988 can often resolve the situation without an in-person response.
In the Los Angeles model, 911 call-takers ask a series of questions to determine whether a caller is experiencing a mental health or suicide-related crisis and whether there are safety factors that require an officer or EMS response. When those risk factors are not present, the call can be transferred directly to the 988 crisis center.
From there, trained counselors provide:
- Risk assessment for suicide and self-harm
- De-escalation and emotional support
- Safety planning and connection to mobile crisis teams or crisis stabilization services
- Follow-up calls to support the person and family after the immediate crisis
The data from this work is striking: the vast majority of 988 calls are fully resolved over the phone, without an in-person response. Only a small percentage require emergency intervention. That is the power of mental crisis 911 diversion: the right responder, right away, for most people who call for help.
Why Change Was Necessary: Impact on Community Members
For families and individuals, the traditional 911-only pathway can feel overwhelming.
When you call 911 about a loved one’s mental health crisis, this is often what happens:
- A marked patrol car arrives outside your home.
- Sirens and flashing lights draw the attention of neighbors.
- The person in crisis may be handcuffed or transported involuntarily.
- Ambulance and hospital bills arrive later, on top of the emotional toll.
Even when everyone involved is compassionate and skilled, the overall experience can reinforce stigma: the message that mental illness is something to be “handled” by law enforcement and the hospital, not something that can be treated in the community.
In contrast, diversion to 988 reframes the story. The caller is immediately connected to someone whose job is to listen, assess risk, and help determine what support will actually be helpful. When in-person help is needed, it can come from mobile crisis teams or co-responder units that are prepared to spend time listening and connecting people to ongoing care.
An unexpected equity benefit has also emerged. When Los Angeles analyzed who was being reached through their mental crisis 911 diversion work, they saw:
- A higher proportion of men are connected to 988 through diverted 911 calls
- A noticeably higher proportion of Black callers coming through the 911 diversion pathway than through direct 988 calls
This suggests that communities that may be less likely to dial 988 on their own are still accessing help, but they are doing so through 911. Mental crisis 911 diversion helps ensure those calls do not automatically default to a law enforcement–only response.
The First Responder Perspective: Limits and Opportunities
For law enforcement, mental crisis 911 diversion is not about “doing less.” It is about doing the right things with the right partners.
Officers in Los Angeles described the reality of being called to situations that developed over the years: family conflict, untreated illness, lack of services, and trauma. They arrive as strangers, with limited information, and are asked to “fix” a deeply complex situation in minutes.
Two key concepts have emerged in response:
- Tactical disengagement. If a person is in crisis, wants no contact, and is not breaking the law or posing a risk to others, more agencies are choosing to disengage rather than escalate.
- Shared responsibility. Police, fire, EMS, behavioral health, crisis lines, and community providers are all part of the same “wheel.” Each has a different scope, but they share a common goal: support people in crisis as safely and humanely as possible.
Co-responder teams, such as the LAPD SMART teams (an officer paired with a licensed clinician), serve as a crucial bridge. They support patrol officers on complex calls, provide on-scene clinical assessments, and help divert people away from jail or unnecessary hospitalization.
Unarmed crisis teams, nurse practitioner units, and community-based outreach teams add more layers of response for lower-acuity situations or for unhoused people. All of these pieces work better when they are connected by timely information sharing and clear protocols – precisely the kind of environment where Julota’s interoperability approach is designed to help.
How Mental Crisis 911 Diversion Works in Practice
While every community will design its own model, several core elements from the Los Angeles experience are widely applicable.
1. Identifying eligible calls
When a 911 call comes in, call-takers flag potential mental health or suicide-related calls using key phrases and questions. If the primary issue appears to be a behavioral health crisis, they then screen for safety factors that would make diversion inappropriate, such as:
- Active violence or immediate threat of violence
- Serious medical needs requiring EMS
- Weapons present with other people at risk
- High structures (bridges, overpasses) where a responder must be on scene
If any of these are present, the call stays within 911, and an officer, EMS, or both respond.
2. Transferring to 988
If the situation appears safe enough for a telephonic response, the call is transferred to 988. Basic information is shared:
- Incident number
- Callback number
- Location
- Name and a brief description of the situation
From there, the crisis center treats the call like any other crisis contact: they complete a risk assessment, provide de-escalation, safety planning, and refer the individual to services. If the situation becomes unsafe or requires an in-person response, there is a direct line back to 911.
3. Tracking outcomes and closing the loop
Data from the 911 diversion initiative shows:
- Most calls diverted to 988 are resolved without any in-person response.
- Of the calls that do require someone to respond in person, only a small percentage require law enforcement.
- Many people can transport themselves to care, connect with mobile crisis teams, or receive follow-up support instead of being taken to the hospital in crisis.
This is where coordinated data systems matter. When 911 centers, 988 crisis lines, mobile crisis teams, co-responder units, and community providers all operate in silos, it is hard to see what happens to a call after transfer. Platforms like Julota can help agencies share essential information, track outcomes across partners, and identify gaps or equity issues in the crisis system.
Building a Community-Centered Crisis System
Los Angeles did not get here overnight. The diversion program grew out of:
- Years of work by the local suicide prevention center
- Longstanding partnerships between LAPD and the county Department of Mental Health
- National conversations about policing, equity, and behavioral health
- New funding mechanisms for 988 and crisis care
Even with strong leadership, the team described the city as a “freight liner” that takes time to turn. Mental crisis 911 diversion requires cultural change as much as technical change:
- 911 dispatchers need training and support to feel confident sending callers to 988.
- 988 crisis counselors need a deep understanding of law enforcement realities and safety concerns.
- Officers need clear expectations and backup from co-responder teams and mobile crisis partners.
- Community members need simple, consistent messaging: call 988 for suicide, substance use, and mental health crises; call 911 for immediate police, fire, or medical emergencies.
Community advisory boards, lived experience voices, and ongoing research (such as the evaluation being conducted in collaboration with local universities) are crucial to ensuring the system is working effectively for those it is intended to serve.
Where Interoperability Fits In
Underneath all of this, there is a simple infrastructure question: how do all of these moving parts stay connected?
Effective mental crisis 911 diversion depends on:
- Clear, repeatable workflows between 911 centers, 988 centers, mobile crisis teams, and co-responder units
- Consent-based data sharing so that people do not have to tell their story over and over
- Real-time visibility into who responded, where the person went, and what follow-up was offered
- The ability to identify patterns, such as frequent callers or neighborhoods with high crisis volume, and respond proactively
This is the space where Julota works: helping communities build shared, flexible data systems that connect law enforcement, behavioral health, fire/EMS, social services, and community providers around the people they serve.
When mental crisis 911 diversion, 988, and co-responder strategies are supported by strong interoperability, communities do not just respond differently to crisis; they learn from every call, close more loops, and build systems that are fairer, safer, and more humane.
Looking Ahead
Mental crisis 911 diversion is no longer just a “what if.” In places like Los Angeles, it has transitioned from vision to reality. It is now entering the “make it better” phase, expanding to new jurisdictions, refining call criteria, and incorporating more community voices into the process.
For communities that are just starting this work, the message from the field is encouraging:
- You do not have to choose between safety and compassion.
- You can reduce the burden on law enforcement while improving outcomes for people in crisis.
- With the right partnerships and data infrastructure, every crisis call can become a chance to build a better system.
As more regions explore 988, co-responder teams, and integrated crisis care, mental crisis 911 diversion will be a central part of the conversation. The question is no longer whether to move in this direction, but how to do it in a way that reflects the needs, strengths, and values of each community.
