Mobile Crisis Response Teams Support Better Policing: Evidence from CAHOOTS

Abstract

This paper studies mobile crisis response teams—a non-uniformed pair consisting of a mental health worker and a medic—as a component of emergency response to 911 calls, providing the first evaluation of the longest-running program in the United States, Crisis Assistance Helping Out on the Streets (CAHOOTS) in Eugene, Oregon. CAHOOTS responds to calls involving mental illness, homelessness, and addiction either instead of or in addition to police officers. The findings show that a series of program expansions into new areas and times reduced the likelihood that a 911 call resulted in an arrest and increased access to medical services, with the arrest reduction likely reflecting CAHOOTS' role in de-escalating tense situations and resolving incidents without coercive measures.