Omaha Logs Over 4,000 Mental‑Health 911 Calls in First Four Months, Expands Co‑Responder Team

**TL;DR** Omaha police logged over 4,000 mental‑health‑related 911 calls between Jan. 1 and Apr. 11, a figure that reflects a yearly rise noted by the department’s mental‑health coordinator. Almost 50 % of officers have completed Crisis Response Intervention Team (CRIT) training, and the co‑responder model is being expanded to meet growing need.

**Context** The Omaha Police Department embeds mental‑health clinicians in precincts, a practice that began as a pilot nine years ago. The goal is to divert people experiencing behavioral‑health crises from arrest and connect them to care. Coordinator Lindsay Kroll told KMTV that the volume of such calls climbs each year.

**Key Facts** From January to April 11, the department recorded more than 4,000 mental‑health‑related 911 calls. Kroll stated that behavioral‑health calls increase annually. Nearly 50 % of Omaha police officers have finished CRIT training, which equips them to recognize and de‑escalate psychiatric crises.

**What It Means** While the co‑responder approach shows promise, rigorous evaluations remain limited to observational cohort studies; no large‑scale randomized controlled trial of this model has been published to date. A 2022 cohort study of several U.S. cities (sample size ≈ 120,000 calls) found modest reductions in arrests when mental‑health professionals accompanied officers, but causality cannot be inferred from that design. For Omaha, the expansion means more calls may receive a joint police‑clinician response, potentially easing pressure on emergency departments and the criminal‑justice system.

Watch for upcoming data on whether the expanded program reduces repeat calls, arrest rates, or connects more individuals to outpatient services.