Program aims to decrease repetitive 911 and 311 calls in San Antonio

Program aims to decrease repetitive 911 and 311 calls in San Antonio (SBG)

News4SA
by Jordan Elder
Thu, April 6th 2023, 7:53 PM CST

SAN ANTONIO - The City of San Antonio is looking to address mental health, neighbor disputes, and code violations with its new Good Neighbor program.

The framework is already in place because of programs like the Dangerous Assessment Response Team, which is a collaboration targeting nuisance properties.

This program would operate in the same way, with several city departments coming together to address issues that may seem small on their own but lead to collectively large issues.

This includes roaming or aggressive animals, intimidating behavior, late-night shouting matches, disturbances, and right-of-way obstructions, according to a city presentation.

A big catalyst for this program was the February dog attack on Depla Street, where neighbors called the city repeatedly but were worried about retaliation.

"It's important for us to talk to the neighbors because they may not be calling 911 or requesting assistance because of the fear they have of retaliation," Deputy City Manager Maria Villagomez said to city councilmembers Wednesday.

Villagomez says the goal of the program is to assist the individuals who frequently call the city and connect them to services, which over time would reduce the number of times that they call 911 or 311.

The city mapped out where the most 911 and 311 calls were coming from in the last few months.

There were nearly 500 single-family residences responsible for 12 or more calls in the last 90 days.

There were 20 residential addresses responsible for more than three thousand calls.

Nearly half of all the calls were requests for patrol bys or welfare checks, but almost 30 percent called about mental health concerns.

Villagomez says the city is already looking at how to get mental health services to people in those areas quickly.

Mental health experts say they're not surprised people are using these methods to get the care they need.

"People are now reaching out for help, you know, they're calling 911. Because that's what we do when we need help, right?" said Dr. Aimee Hicks, who runs the Crisis Response Division for the Center of Health Care Services. "They're starting to see that those are ways that they can get assistance."

Hicks says this is a good way to educate people about the resources available to them, especially hotlines that may provide help quicker.

You can actually call 210-223-SAFE. That's another crisis line where you'll get a counselor who will speak to you and provide you with resources and actually do some triage," Hicks said.

She says the Center for Health Care Services has lots of resources for people who need assistance, even if they don't have insurance.

When the Good Neighbor Program officials respond to calls, they say they'll either connect people with services or enforce ordinances for things like animal violations or code violations.

Villagomez recommended that the city implement a pilot program for this task force by June 1, 2023, as well as an ordinance (if needed) to make this program part of the FY 2024 budget.