Overview
- The mayor will sign an executive order Thursday establishing the Office of Community Safety to steer some nonpolice crisis responses, funded with about $260 million drawn from existing programs.
- Renita Francois is expected to serve as the first deputy mayor leading the office, which would make her the administration’s first Black deputy mayor.
- The office will consolidate the Division of Neighborhood Safety, the Office to Prevent Gun Violence, and the Office for the Prevention of Hate Crimes, among other initiatives.
- Creating a mayoral office rather than a permanent city agency leaves the initiative subject to reversal by a future mayor and reflects limited Council support, with a related bill at 28 sponsors.
- Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch testified that only about 2% of the city’s 4.3 million 911 calls would be divertable under a nonviolent emotionally disturbed-persons standard, signaling operational limits.