(WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- An examination of 9-1-1 calls in Chicago and other U.S. cities questions the way the local governments respond to those calls.
The Alternatives to Policing report looked at nearly 6.5 million calls to 9-1-1 in Chicago and seven other cities from 2022 and found that a relatively small number of them were for shootings and other violent crimes.
More often, they’re medical or mental health, traffic or quality-of-life calls, the report says.
“Nearly 75% of all calls to police were for incidents where the urgency was not related to stopping, preventing or otherwise even responding to violence,” community organizer Marisol Cantu of Richmond, California, said.
Roxanne Smith of Communities United in Chicago said her son, who has Fragile X Syndrome, was mistreated by police when she called for help because he was having a panic attack.
“Too often, the police are our first and only option when we are in need of help,” she said.
Smith said paramedics and a mental health worker would have likely dealt with the situation in a much different way.
The report concludes that cities cannot have a one-size-fits-all approach to responding to 9-1-1 calls.
Of all 9-1-1 calls in Chicago in 2022, 26.2% were for interpersonal violence and conflicts; 17.5% were for mental, physical and behavioral health concerns; 18.6% were for quality-of-life issues; 17.2% were for vehicular violations and crashes; 16.2% were for security concerns and 4.3% were for criminal investigations.
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