Police alternative: Minneapolis ups hours for crisis response teams

MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - The City of Minneapolis announced its Behavioral Crisis Response teams are now operating 24 hours a day, Monday through Friday.

Since the teams launched in December 2021, they have been responding to calls Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to midnight.

The BCR teams are part of a program run by the City’s Office of Performance and Innovation. The teams are an alternative to a police response and are dispatched by 911 operators.

The city says people reporting or experiencing a behavioral crisis should still call 911. Dispatchers will determine if the call is eligible for a BCR team. BCR teams will not respond to incidents involving firearms for violent behavior and though designed to work without police, they may call the MPD if police are needed to help the team complete their work.