Raleigh joins cities diverting some 911 calls from police
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An experiment underway in Raleigh aims to protect 911 callers in mental health crises from unnecessary interactions with police by having them speak directly with a clinician.
Why it matters: Sending police to calls they're unequipped to handle can be dangerous for everyone involved.
By the numbers: One in five adults in North Carolina experiences mental illness, and about 4.5% report having serious thoughts of suicide, according to a 2025 report from Mental Health America.
- But calls to the 988 mental health hotline are typically routed through regional centers that aren't integrated with local first responder networks.
Zoom in: That's where the Raleigh CARES pilot comes in. Three mental health clinicians are now embedded in Raleigh's 911 center through a partnership with Alliance Health.
- Meg Hill, one of those embedded clinicians, tells Axios it's helpful to point people to resources "that are less invasive and more comfortable."
The big picture: Raleigh joins a growing list of cities embracing alternatives to policing, from Durham to Minneapolis and San Antonio.
How it works: A 911 call-taker who determines a mental health crisis is underway (and there's no weapon present) will transfer the call to one of those embedded clinicians.
- "We're trying to determine: Is somebody having thoughts of hurting themselves or someone else? Are they seeing or hearing things that other people don't hear or see, having hallucinations? And are they dealing with any issues related to substance use?" Hill says. "Those are the big questions that we're asking first."
The goal is to calm callers through conversation and assess what they need. Patients are often directed to behavioral health urgent care centers, which can access the information gathered over the phone.
- "Recently, I had a conversation with the guy who hadn't slept in three days, and he was kind of just starting to panic," Hill says. She calmed him down, and he got a ride to a behavioral health urgent care.
- "I think he just felt like, you know, I need to be in a place where somebody can keep an eye on me, give me a medication that can help me sleep, and just help me make sure I'm OK."
State of play: Dominick Nutter, the city's emergency communications director, says diverting crisis calls frees up first responders to handle other emergencies.
- If first responders are needed on the scene, the Alliance clinician will stay on the line to gather information for first responders while simultaneously soothing the patient and helping them understand what to expect.
What they're saying: Nutter says Alliance's role makes Raleigh's experiment unique. The company facilitates behavioral health care in the Triangle for people who are uninsured or on Medicaid.
- "Not only does that person get the acute care, but there's continuity of care," Nutter says, calling it "a dramatic improvement" over similar efforts elsewhere.
- Hill says that there's "a lot of overlap between people who call 911 in a mental health crisis, and people who are already members of Alliance through the services we provide with Medicaid."
Yes, but: The clinicians are only in the 911 center 9am-5pm on weekdays.
- After hours, Alliance operates a behavioral health crisis line at 877-223-4617.
What's next: Nutter tells Axios the initiative — four months along — is "only going to expand."