CAHOOTS volunteers operate in teams of two, a crisis intervention specialist and a medic, and take to the streets to assist with mental-health crises, intoxication, mediation, and more all without police.
Nonprofit in lane county is getting national attention tonight... as cities across the country look to find ways to relieve police departments... thanks for joining us tonight.
I'm renee mccullough.
Matt is off.
Cahoots was featured on cnn this week.
- and as kezi 9 news reporter emma jerome shows us... they do more work than you might realize.
Ebony morgan "my father died during a police encounter and i am really passionate about alternatives to police response" emma jerome: "ebony morgan just appeared on cnn - sharing the cahoots model with the whole country , but she says her focus is here in this community, working help our most vulnerable heal."
Cahoots - crisis assistance helping out on the streets - is a subsidy of white bird clinic - they operate in teams of 2... a crisis intervention worker and a medic and specialize in de - escalation... they hit the streets in place of police to assist with mental health crises, intoxication, mediation and much more.
And they do it all without police however if a situation escalates to become violent they will call for police backup last year cahoots received 2 million dollars in funding from the city and county.
Epd's budget?
60 million!!
Em: "i also believe (police) may not be the one size fits all response for crises" kimber hawes: "police are trained to perceive stuff as a threat and we are trained the exact opposite."
Kimber hawes says the cahoots model only works with the support of the community.
She said more funding would go a long way.
"we are kind of as strong as what the public safety sector will let us do" cahoots... which has been around for 30 years... is finally catching the eye of the whole country.
"i would like to continue to encourage people to articulate what they're after and use the momentum of this time to push for equity and growth in our community because it's just a fact that there's room for it."
A petition on line which has gethered more than 7,000 signatures calls for 30% of epd's budget to be given to cahoots.
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