BALTIMORE (WBFF) — Baltimore City Council voted Monday to create a new city agency aimed at changing how Baltimore responds to some nonviolent emergency calls, including mental health crises that are now typically handled by police officers.
The legislation, which establishes the Department of Neighborhood Safety, passed on a 13-1 vote led by City Council President Zeke Cohen. Councilman Mark Conway, who represents District 4, cast the lone “no” vote. Councilman Antonio Glover did not vote because he was absent.
“This bill is approved,” Cohen said after the vote.
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Cohen said the new department is needed to relieve police officers of responsibilities he believes fall outside traditional law enforcement work.
“Our officers are asked to do far too much. People experiencing crises and our officers deserve better,” Cohen said.
Conway said he supported the concept, but raised concerns about the cost.
“I appreciate the the work to be done by the Department of Neighborhood Safety. My, my concern is primarily around the finances,” Conway said.
The full cost of the new department is still unknown, though Conway said it could carry an initial cost of at least $50 million.
Conway also criticized the council’s approach to approving the new agency.
“I don’t think it is the way we should do business. I do think it’s our responsibility as shepherds of the tax dollar to be very thoughtful about how we spend that money and I don’t think we’ve been thoughtful in this decision today,” he said.
Cohen pointed to the city’s need for a dedicated crisis response system.
The city is tired of seeing people die in mental health crisis,” Cohen said.
He also praised the council’s support for the measure, saying, “I am incredibly proud of my colleagues on this council who overwhelmingly supported this legislation. And I will just remind the viewers, this has been a journey. We have been hearing for years that Baltimore needs a crisis response system.”
Cohen has suggested a potential funding source could be found within the Baltimore Police Department’s overtime budget, arguing that shifting certain calls away from police could reduce overtime spending over time.
Conway said he would want to see more analysis before relying on overtime savings.
“I think that would be great if we could find the savings in overtime…we’ve done that in the past. We’ve had savings in overtime, but we’ve struggled to maintain those savings. Nevertheless, if it did help with overtime, I’d love to see that analysis and make sure that we actually have understanding how we’re going to do that,” he said.
Cohen said the city spends heavily on police overtime and that officers have expressed frustration with being tasked with responding to mental health crises.
“This is a city that spends an enormous amount of money on police overtime. And what we’ve heard overwhelmingly from officers is that they are tired of carrying the burden of our city’s mental health crisis. People signed up to be police officers because they wanted to go after bad guys,” he said.
The bill is now headed to Mayor Brandon Scott’s desk for his signature. The mayor said on X earlier Monday night that he was grateful for the bill’s passage, calling it critically important to continuing crime reduction efforts in the city.
Cohen said the next step is finding an executive director for the new agency to help with staffing the department.
Follow FOX45 reporter Keith Daniels on X and Facebook. Send tips to Kdaniels@sbgtv.com.
This post was originally published on Fox 45 by Sinclair Media Group.
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