Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, in concert with Councilmember Tim McOsker, has heralded the expansion of the Crisis and Incident Response through Community-led Engagement (CIRCLE) program into the Harbor Area, promising 24/7 aid for non-violent calls regarding the unhoused, as detailed in an announcement from the mayor's office.
The CIRCLE program, an initiative that addresses calls related to non-criminal incidents involving unhoused individuals by deploying mental health professionals and people with lived homelessness experience, has been marked as effective by city officials, the newly expanded service will cover neighborhoods like Harbor Gateway, Harbor City, Wilmington, and San Pedro, according to the mayor's statement.
Originally launched in Hollywood and Venice and now operational in several communities including Downtown LA and parts of the San Fernando Valley, CIRCLE seeks to foster positive connections for unhoused individuals to services while allowing law enforcement to prioritize more traditional police work; this has shown promise with previous statistics indicating a response to over 8,000 calls and an impressive average response time of less than 26 minutes.
"CIRCLE is a proven program to help Angelenos and I am excited that it will be expanding into the Harbor Area," Mayor Karen Bass said, indicating that services will cater to incidents such as loitering, well-being checks, and substance abuse issues, CIRCLE's footprint in assisting both residents and businesses across LA is set to grow as of February 1, Councilmember Tim McOsker echoed this sentiment, highlighting the importance of unarmed responses and the added value of mental health professionals in the field, as stated in the announcement.
For Angelenos in need of CIRCLE's services, contacting them is a phone call away at the non-emergency police line, where operators assess situations for CIRCLE criteria and deploy response teams if appropriate; teams are trained in various crisis and wellness interventions, as outlined in the CIRCLE FAQ.
The program's extension not only reflects a focus on non-punitive approaches to safety but also underscores LA's commitment to innovative solutions for societal issues faced by its most vulnerable citizens, all within the larger framework of Mayor Bass's Office of Community Safety, which emphasizes community-based strategies and violence prevention.
