{"id":105905,"date":"2025-08-18T08:00:29","date_gmt":"2025-08-18T13:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=105905"},"modified":"2026-01-01T16:04:37","modified_gmt":"2026-01-01T22:04:37","slug":"cleveland-non-police-crisis-response-builds-trust-meets-civilians-where-they-are","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/cleveland-non-police-crisis-response-builds-trust-meets-civilians-where-they-are\/","title":{"rendered":"Cleveland non-police crisis response builds trust, meets civilians where they are"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>By Tyler Williamson<\/b><b><br \/>\n<\/b><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Medill Reports<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cleveland police shot Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams in the parking lot of Heritage Middle School following a high-speed chase involving 60 police officers in 2012. The sound of a nearby car backfiring was mistaken for a gunshot. Thirteen police officers fired 137 times into the car where Russell and Williams sat, unarmed, killing them instantly.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The shooting sparked a federal investigation into the Cleveland Police Department and received national coverage. Sixty-three officers were suspended, and six were eventually fired.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The killings were a watershed moment for a city that had long been struggling with accusations of police misconduct, especially against Black residents. The U.S. Department of Justice launched a 21-month investigation and ultimately found police regularly used excessive force. The investigation led to a 2015 consent decree, wherein the city was ordered to undertake sweeping reforms around force, search and seizure, accountability, transparency and crisis intervention.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cleveland has made reforms due to the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.clevelandohio.gov\/city-hall\/ops\/consent-decree\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">consent decree<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and ongoing pressure from residents, including after George Floyd\u2019s killing in Minneapolis launched a national movement in 2020.\u00a0 The reforms include a small program to address mental health crises without police, as well as a co-response program where clinicians join police in these situations. Cleveland suburbs also have a similar alternative response program. However, the reach and scope of the programs are still limited, as proponents and city leaders hope to expand in the future.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><b>Co-response in Cleveland\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After the consent decree mandated Cleveland start a crisis response program, the Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services (ADAMHS) Board of Cuyahoga County worked with police to get a federal grant to start a pilot co-response program with teams of a police officer and a licensed mental health clinician.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cleveland\u2019s co-responder program received a three-year Bureau of Justice Assistance grant in 2020. Angela Cecys was hired as a clinician on one of the five co-responder teams and now serves as the senior public health and safety strategist for the Cleveland Department of Public Health<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The consent decree also mandated Cleveland form a Mental Health Response Advisory Committee, which brings together mental health, substance abuse and treatment\/recovery providers and stakeholders, the community and the police.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The committee\u2019s objective is to build a better understanding among law enforcement of mental illness and related crises. The committee also makes recommendations directly to the police department regarding its policies, procedures and training for dealing with someone in crisis.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Cecys, responsible for overseeing the co-response program&#8217;s sustainability, said she feels it\u2019s important to have police involved in crisis response spaces and advocates for Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training, a curriculum used nationwide to help officers understand and deal with mental health issues.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI\u2019m a firm supporter of police being CIT-trained \u2014 as many officers as possible being CIT-trained \u2014 and of police co-response teams,\u201d Cecys said. \u201cI think when you have a full system of services and different levels of engagement, you have the right response at the right time. It\u2019s never an either-or conversation, but more about how many more programs we can have on board to help us.\u201d<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Law enforcement officers said they understand how their presence can escalate a mental health situation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThe number of times when we get a call on scene when it\u2019s mental health, it\u2019s the uniform, it\u2019s the gun, it\u2019s the dynamic of a police officer,\u201d that can cause more anxiety, said Sgt. Randy Murphy of Cleveland Police District 5. \u201cSo with these guys that we have, they come in plain clothes. They have a social worker. They are invested, but their approach will look differently.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Murphy said the co-response program is a really good idea. He noted it\u2019s especially valuable when the co-response teams have gotten to know people who frequently need their services.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThey developed some type of relationship with them,\u201d Murphy said. \u201cAnd as soon as you get that call, and they know the address, know the name, know the family, know the history, that actually helps us out a whole lot. It\u2019s all part of de-escalation.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><b>Creating CARE\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Floyd\u2019s killing in 2020 increased calls nationwide for crisis response in local jurisdictions that do not involve police. Many cities started pilot programs to better deal with mental and behavioral health crises during this period.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For Bree Easterling, a social justice outreach and organizing specialist from Cleveland&#8217;s East Side, Floyd\u2019s murder caused a shift in consciousness. It made them focus on not only Cleveland\u2019s history but also the narrative of Black people\u2019s experience, and motivated them to focus on change in policy full-time.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;We had the 137 shots happen here in Cleveland,&#8221; said Easterling, referring to the 2012 killings of Russell and Williams and the long legacy of police violence against Black people.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Easterling \u2013 a disabled Air Force veteran \u2013 was able to springboard change in Cleveland through their role as a social justice outreach and organizing specialist for Policy Matters Ohio.<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_105913\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-105913\" style=\"width: 478px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-105913 \" src=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/08\/Cleveland-police-story-674x1024.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"478\" height=\"727\" srcset=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/08\/Cleveland-police-story-674x1024.jpeg 674w, https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/08\/Cleveland-police-story-197x300.jpeg 197w, https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/medill.wordpress.offload\/wp-media-folder-medill-reports-chicago\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/08\/Cleveland-police-story.jpeg 697w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 478px) 100vw, 478px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-105913\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Easterling speaks at \u201cIMPACTTalk\u201d during the State Priorities Partnership IMPACT 2024 conference. (Photo courtesy of Bree Easterling)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 2024, Policy Matters Ohio surveyed marginalized communities to gauge and describe their reactions to first responders and law enforcement as they launched a non-police crisis response program called CARE.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Policy Matters survey was meant to assist the <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ADAMHS Board of Cuyahoga County in shaping the CARE program. Easterling led the second phase of this survey to specifically get data on the intersections of youth who identify in categories of being unhoused, a part of the LGBTQ+ community and BIPOC communities.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Responses from the survey varied widely regarding interactions respondents had with law enforcement and first responders.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The report includes accounts from 580 people who shared their experiences with emergency medical services, police, firefighters and social workers, as<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/signalcleveland.org\/clevelanders-want-respect-empathy-from-first-responders-report-shows\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> reported by Signal Cleveland. <\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Forty-eight percent said they had \u201cvery positive\u201d or \u201cpositive\u201d interactions with a first responder. Thirty-one percent scored their interactions as \u201cneutral,\u201d and 21% described them as \u201cnegative\u201d or \u201cvery negative.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI told them multiple times that I am trans,\u201d wrote one survey respondent. \u201cWhen the officer patted me down, (they) continuously grabbed my crotch and other places, saying, \u2018Something\u2019s not right.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In other situations, people said they felt they received assistance in the moment of crisis. The police \u201chelped me find a shelter that would take me with AIDS\/HIV,\u201d wrote one respondent.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Easterling said getting such input is crucial.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cPeople who live on the margins and people who are the most impacted are often the least heard,\u201d Easterling said. \u201cThat\u2019s how we approached the survey \u2014 by lifting up the voices of people who have been directly impacted by this particular issue.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><b>First CALL<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Even as Cleveland was developing its alternate response programs to comply with the consent decree, Cuyahoga County, which includes Cleveland, was building its own program now serving five Cleveland suburbs.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">First CALL, which stands for Crisis Assistance and Local Linkage, sends teams of behavioral health clinicians and peer support staff to help people experiencing mental health distress and substance use disorders. The program serves Cleveland Heights, Shaker Heights, South Euclid, Richmond Heights and University Heights.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">First CALL can be dispatched through 911, and operators send the most appropriate response based on each scenario. First CALL operates Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. A &#8220;follow-up&#8221; team of First CALL staff checks up on those who have recently been served by the crisis responders.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Annette Wallace, First CALL program coordinator, said the response is tailored to give proper care and assistance in volatile times.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;Automatically, we go, \u2018What do you need?\u2019\u201d Wallace said. \u201cI love to use this analogy: You go to the hospital for a broken leg. They discharge you with a whole bunch of things, you got to make these appointments. You got to do this, you got to do that. It&#8217;s the same thing in regards to our mental health. This person was in crisis. How are they supposed to navigate that?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The follow-up team helps people overcome challenges to getting care, she added.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWe&#8217;re there to address maybe some of those barriers that come up.,&#8221; Wallace said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Wallace stressed the teams really develop meaningful connections with people, and that goes a long way.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Both First CALL and the city of Cleveland have funding secured to continue the programs through 2025. But alternative response programs nationwide \u2013 including Eugene, Oregon\u2019s gold standard CAHOOTS program \u2013 are shutting down or struggling to get funding.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ultimately, experts in Cleveland and beyond say the perception of alternate response programs has evolved from being seen as \u201cdefunding the police\u201d\u00a0 or \u201cnot real enforcement\u201d to being recognized as important efforts for every citizen to be valued and their needs met. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tyler Williamson is an Investigative Specialization graduate student at Medill. You can follow her on Instagram at @tyreports_.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><em>Editor\u2019s note, Aug. 19, 2025, 11 a.m.: This story has been updated to clarify Bree Easterling&#8217;s title and description. Easterling is a former disabled Air Force veteran who focuses on change in policy.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Tyler Williamson Medill Reports Cleveland police shot Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams in the parking lot of Heritage Middle School following a high-speed chase involving 60 police officers in 2012. The sound of a nearby car backfiring was mistaken for a gunshot. Thirteen police officers fired 137 times into the car where Russell and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":987,"featured_media":105912,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[452,5251,5542,30,675,5521],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-105905","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beyond-chicago","category-chicago","category-msj25","category-public-affairs","category-social-justice","category-summer-2025"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Cleveland non-police crisis response builds trust, meets civilians where they are - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/cleveland-non-police-crisis-response-builds-trust-meets-civilians-where-they-are\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cleveland non-police crisis response builds trust, meets civilians where they are - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Tyler Williamson Medill Reports Cleveland police shot Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams in the parking lot of Heritage Middle School following a high-speed chase involving 60 police officers in 2012. 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