Using a novel database, CPE’s data brief analyzes 216 alternative response programs across the country and offers a starting point for local leaders to innovate new, community-centric models of public safety.
In the aftermath of several high-profile police killings, alternative response programs (ARPs) such as Oregon’s CAHOOTS program and Denver STAR have grown in popularity, but gaps in information about scale, reach, and program design make it difficult to replicate areas of success and to mitigate challenges. The Center for Policing Equity’s (CPE) new data brief, Nonpolice Alternative Response Programs Across the United States: A National Portrait, offers one of the first overviews of ARPs to help local leaders, researchers, and other decision-makers lay the groundwork for future innovation and expansion of ARPs that are responsive to community needs and values.
CPE analyzed 216 ARPs spanning 40 states using a novel database of program characteristics including cities and counties served, volume of calls, and what types of public safety situations responders handle, such as mental health crises and conflict mediation. By providing a more complete snapshot of existing ARPs than the typical case-study approach, CPE’s findings reveal where additional investment or a shift in approach is needed to meet unique community needs.
Key findings from CPE’s brief include:
- Public officials and other decision-makers established nearly 120 ARPs from 2020 through 2024, reflecting a surge in interest and political willpower following national Black Lives Matter protests.
- Most programs serving large populations respond to fewer than five calls per 1,000 residents per year.
- Mental and behavioral health are a state focus for 94% of programs; far fewer are designed to address issues like traffic safety, interpersonal conflict or homelessness.
- Despite their focus on mental health crisis calls, only 18% of ARPs use the 988 national mental health crisis line, while 50% use 911 for dispatch.
- Programs are concentrated in large, racially diverse, urban areas.
“CPE’s database highlights where critical gaps exist in current ARP models and where there is room for growth,” says Jennifer Key, Vice President of Science Initiatives at CPE. “Community leaders and other advocates can leverage the findings from our data brief to better understand when and how alternative response programs are being used, and where further work is needed to strengthen non-police responses.”
Understanding the landscape of existing ARPs is crucial for communities to identify paths for future growth and to build safer, more equitable public safety systems.
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The Center for Policing Equity (CPE) is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit that uses data science to empower vulnerable communities—particularly Black communities—to partner with leaders on redesigning public safety systems that facilitate bold, innovative, and lasting change.