City of Ann Arbor pushes for unarmed crisis response program, plans to develop new proposal
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) - The city of Ann Arbor is once again pushing for an unarmed crisis response program after canceling its request for proposal (RFP).
City Administrator Milton Dohoney Jr. said the city plans to develop a new proposal in January 2024.
"We felt the amount of time proposed to be spent on community building activities, such as dance parties, rides to medical appointments, and the distribution of free health supplies, was not sufficiently related to the unarmed crisis response being sought by the community," Dohoney said in a written statement.
City officials issued a request for proposal in August 2023 to hire an agency to implement the program.
However, after receiving one submission from Care-Base Safety (CBS), the city canceled the RFP due to "significant issues with the single submission," according to a press release.
"The city's RFP included a list of situations where it would be inappropriate to dispatch an unarmed crisis response, such as a report of a person with a gun, domestic violence, or someone being held against their will. The CBS submittal disregarded the RFP directive and indicated it would seek volunteers from their response team to go on such calls if they felt safe doing so," Dohoney said in the statement. "I do not believe this approach would meet our community's expectations of how a safe and successful unarmed crisis response program should work."
Dohoney said they applaud CBS for the submission, but felt that "given the importance of unarmed crisis response for both the community and our City Council, we would be doing both a disservice to accept a proposal with the issues noted."
According to the city, the Ann Arbor City Council approved Resolution 21-129 in April 2021 to establish an unarmed crisis response program.
Since then, the program has received support, including an appropriation of $3.5 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds.
