The El Paso City Council is set to decide Tuesday whether officers will get a new option for some of their toughest calls: taking people in mental-health or substance-use crisis to a round-the-clock diversion center instead of booking them into jail.
The proposed measure would let the mayor sign an interlocal agreement with Emergence Health Network (EHN), the El Paso Police Department, and the El Paso County district attorney to run the facility. Council members can either greenlight the deal as written or send staff back to tweak the plan and bring other options.
According to the City of El Paso agenda, the resolution would authorize the mayor to sign an interlocal agreement with EHN and the county district attorney. The draft sets a two-year term running through November 2028, with an option to automatically renew for one additional year.
What the diversion center would do
Documents in the council packet and local reporting describe the center as a 24-hour facility that would accept law-enforcement drop-offs and walk-ins, provide crisis intervention and short-term stabilization, and connect people to follow-up services. City materials say the setup could get officers back on patrol faster while still steering people to treatment, as reported by KFOX.
EHN's track record
Emergence Health Network already operates a 24-hour crisis hotline, mobile crisis teams, and an Extended Observation Unit, according to Emergence Health Network materials. EHN reports that the Extended Observation Unit has served more than 4,000 people over the past five years, with nearly half brought in by law enforcement.
"Of the 3,809 interventions that we've had, 98% of those individuals have been diverted and not gone to jail or to the emergency room," EHN Chief Operating Officer Chrystal Davis told reporters, as reported by KFOX. In other words, the existing crisis setup is already functioning as a kind of pressure valve on jails and ERs.
Capacity questions and local context
Even so, local reporting has found that the city's Crisis Intervention Team is stretched thin as mental-health calls climb. Police data show roughly 900 emergency detentions so far this year, with the CIT handling about half of those incidents. The report El Paso's 911 Mental Health Meltdown documented those strains and warned that limited staffing and vehicles can leave some calls waiting for co-response teams.
A bigger system is already planned
Emergence has also announced a Behavioral Health East Campus that would include extended observation units, short-term crisis residential services, and an adult diversion center, to expand capacity for both youth and adults. Officials and EHN materials say the campus, together with mobile crisis outreach, is intended to improve response times and reduce emergency-room visits and unnecessary incarceration, as reported by KVIA.
What happens next
Council could vote on the resolution during its regular meeting. If approved, the interlocal agreement would put the diversion center into operation under the terms laid out on the agenda. The Legistar packet spells out the parties involved and reiterates the two-year term through November 2028, with an option for a one-year automatic renewal.
The proposal effectively tests a treatment-first approach that officials say can keep people in care instead of cycling through jail cells and emergency rooms. Whether it lives up to that billing will depend on follow-up budget decisions and staffing if the council signs off.
