St. Pete police receives national recognition for special program

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The St. Petersburg Police Department is getting praise on a national level for its Community Assistance Life Liaison program. 

The program, that’s a partnership with Gulf Coast Jewish Family and Community Services, is now a model for agencies across the country.

Known as CALL, the program was started in 2021. Dispatchers send mental health professionals to nonviolent, noncriminal calls rather than officers. CALL navigators respond in two-person teams, connect residents to community resources and then follow up with them. 

The think tank Results for America recently did a case study on the program that acts as a guidebook for other agencies. Megan McGee, the assistant director of the Administrative Services Bureau at SPPD, said officers are trained in crisis intervention and can deescalate a situation, but having someone with a clinical background respond allows them to continually follow up with the person.

"We had a goal that we really wanted to be able to divert nonviolent, non-criminal calls from law enforcement, effectively freeing them from those calls to focus on crime," McGee said. "A lot of the other models still have a co-response, which is excellent. It's definitely a step in the right direction, but I think the bold step that we took to develop a program like CALL is so important because it does show other communities that it is possible," she said. 

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This isn’t the first time CALL has received national recognition. It’s involved with the Council of State Governments, and received the NFL’s Inspire Change social justice grant in 2022.

The St. Petersburg City Council also allotted $1.6 million of its budget to CALL at the end of last year. The money allowed them to add more staff, and extend its hours and operate from 8 a.m. to 2 a.m. seven days a week.

CALL has been used more than 11,000 times since 2021, including 911 calls, non-emergency calls and follow-ups. 

Ninety-seven percent of CALL’s responses result in a diversion from a crisis unit, hospitalization or police response, the case study showed. McGee said the goal is to continue to grow the CALL program as St. Pete continues to grow.