Columbus to decide whether to create community crisis response system with public safety participation

Columbus voters will have a chance to change who responds to mental health and substance abuse calls, with Proposed Charter Amendment No. 2 on the ballot for next month’s election.

While some groups have advocated for a “nonpolice emergency response system,” the system established by the amendment would differ from previous proposals during the “defund the police” movement by requiring coordination with public safety agencies. The amendment will be voted on as one of the local ballot measures on May 5.

The ballot measure, supported by the Columbus Safety Collective, comes as the Columbus Police Department has faced recruitment shortages and funding cuts due to the city’s 2026 budget. The city council agreed to place the question on the ballot as a legislative referral.

Fraternal Order of Police Capital City Lodge 9 President Brian Steel said that he is part of the Safety Collective’s effort, according to WOSU Public Media.

“Our officers respond to thousands of calls every year involving mental health crises, addiction, homelessness and other complex social challenges,” Steel told the outlet. “While law enforcement will always be prepared to respond when there is a threat to public safety, we recognize that not every situation is best resolved through traditional enforcement alone.”

The amendment would establish a community crisis response system to respond to emergency and non-emergency calls for services involving de-escalation, stabilization, and transportation.

The current text of the amendment describes calls that the system would respond to as situations that “do not involve substantial risk of death or bodily harm to persons, including but not limited to, crisis involving behavioral health and/or homelessness.”

The crisis response system would coordinate with city, county, state, and federal agencies on dispatching protocols and crisis services.

While the amendment would require coordination with public safety agencies, the Safety Coalition’s website describes its goal as creating a “nonpolice” system.

“The Columbus Safety Collective is a community-driven movement focused on establishing a nonpolice emergency response system that serves all,” according to the coalition. “Columbus residents. Our mission is to foster an anti-racist, health-centered approach to public safety and to promote accountability and justice in our city.”

The amendment would also set aside funding for the crisis response system and require that funding can only be decreased in proportion to overall budget decreases.

The police department has experienced officer shortages following reductions in recruit classes as part of the 2026 budget. Steel told WBNS-TV that the recruitment reduction followed years of declining recruitment numbers.

“If you are short, it is going to take a little longer for that man and woman in the police car to get there,” Steel told the outlet. “We obviously want to be well-staffed. It has been a problem over the years.”

“It got a little bit worse after 2020,” Steel added. “We weren’t seeing the recruitment we wanted to. Luckily, we are starting to see that again, and the FOP supports the administration and supports the mayor in bringing in these men and women into the department.”

The city’s $1.26 billion general fund budget was slightly higher than 2025’s $1.23 billion, but Mayor Andrew Ginther said that inflation, higher labor and health insurance costs, and ecnomic uncertanty lead to some funding cuts, according to The Columbus Dispatch.

The city council previously considered cutting $2.5 million in funding for the next class of police recruits and reallocating it to other initiatives in response to “defund the police” protests in 2021, but ultimately rejected the proposal.