Under the ordinance, 911 dispatchers - who are county, not city employees - would direct certain calls to these city-employed alternative community responders.Īccording to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, people with mental illnesses are booked into jail around 2 million times a year, “often because communities rely on law enforcement to respond to mental health crises - and they lack the needed resources to truly support someone in crisis.” If within 60 days council votes down or fails to vote at all on the proposal, it will be placed on the ballot at the next general election - in this case, November 2023. If the petition receives at least 2,000 signatures from registered voters of the city, City Council must hold a vote on it. It does not store any personal data.Allentown residents may have the chance to vote on an initiative that could transform the way the city responds to 911 emergencies.Ī citizen-backed initiative would invest $4 million into a pilot program creating “Mobile Community Response teams” that would respond to certain types of 911 calls, in particular those relating to mental health or homelessness.Īllentown City Council will vote on the proposal next month thanks to a petition spearheaded by the Pennsylvania Working Families Party, a small progressive political party with chapters nationwide.Īccording to city laws, five qualified voters of the city can form a “petitioners committee” that is responsible for gathering signatures in support of their proposed ordinance. The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category 'Performance'. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category 'Other. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category 'Necessary'.

The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category 'Functional'. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category 'Analytics'. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly.

If only they could talk