Seeking Cosponsors - Alternative Response Business and Service Delivery Plan

[Amelia Parker]

Council members,

Attached to this message is a Resolution I would like to bring before Council that expresses appreciation for the work of the city and county administrations for working together to form an Alternative Response Task Force, endorses the implementation of the Alternative Response Service and Delivery Plan, and thanks members of the Task Force for their work.

As I’m sure you are aware, the mayor’s office, upon Council’s request, led efforts in 2024 to form a joint city/county task force to develop a business and service delivery plan for a 911-dispatched alternative or community response program for Knoxville and Knox County.

Community responder programs - which pair two trained and unarmed professionals to respond to low-level, non-violent 911 calls - have grown in popularity across the nation, including places like Cookeville TN, for many reasons but I would highlight their track record.

Out of the over 200,000 calls nationwide that community responder teams respond to each year, there have been no reported fatalities or incidents of serious injury to the responders.

The programs are also popular, even with those who initially had concerns or doubts, because they provide a service that the community appreciates while removing calls from police that allow police to focus on serious crimes in the community.

The Business and Service Delivery Plan developed for the Task Force recommends piloting a community responder program in the city before potentially expanding into the county and has proposed a phased implementation plan that will build trust in the community, ensure the two call types selected for community response are appropriate, and ensure there is no overlap with the calls handled by the co-response team.

A lot of good work has gone into getting us to this point that should be celebrated and supported. Therefore I recommend Council adopt a Resolution expressing support of both the work of the task force as well as the recommendations of the resulting plan for Knoxville and Knox County to adopt a community responder program.

Please let me know if you would like to co-sponsor this Resolution by responding below or contacting council attorney Rob Frost by noon on Monday.

Thanks all,

Amelia