In May 2021, the Richmond City Council voted to fund and develop a Community Crisis Response Program or CCRP in Richmond. The program is designed to train and deploy non-police responders to those in crisis. But, for the last two years, Richmond has struggled to get the program off the ground.
A number of obstacles stood in its way, including opposition from the Police Union and disagreements about who should fund it. Some organizers wanted money for the program to come straight out of the Richmond Police Department’s budget.
Others wanted it to be funded by a non-profit organization, and then there were those who wanted the money to come from Contra Costa County.
On Tuesday evening, the Richmond City Council gathered to hear from the Urban Strategies Council, or USC. USC is a consultant group that was hired to assess, among a number of factors, the pros and cons of different types of implementation.
The Richmond City Council also heard from a number of Richmond residents and activists who overwhelmingly seemed to support funding the program through the RPD’s budget.
After two hours of presentations, questions from council members and public comment, the Richmond City Council approved the adoption of a Community Crisis Response Program into an existing city office. That means funds for the program will be coming out of the Richmond Police Department’s budget.
