MPPS

Michigan local leaders’ views on policing co-response and alternative response teams

February 2025

This report presents the opinions of Michigan’s local government leaders, local chiefs of police, and county sheriffs on alternative approaches to traditional policing that might involve other professionals, such as mental health professionals or trained social workers. This includes evaluations of (a) co-response teams that involve mental health professionals but are led by law enforcement, (b) alternative response teams that involve mental health professionals led by other departments within local government (such as the fire department or public health department) but do not include law enforcement, and (c) alternative response teams administered by independent community groups. These findings are based on statewide surveys of local government leaders in the Spring 2024 wave of the Michigan Public Policy Survey (MPPS).

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Key findings

  • Most Michigan county sheriffs (84%) and local police chiefs (82%) support some form of co-response or alternative response program.
  • Fewer local government officials (52%) support some form of co-response or alternative response program, with more uncertainty and outright opposition than among law enforcement leaders.
  • A majority of police chiefs (58%), sheriffs (54%), and local government leaders (52%) believe implementing a co-response team in their community would be difficult, with around a quarter of each group predicting it would be very difficult.
  • Many express concerns about the safety of civilian responders, the local availability of mental health professionals to serve as responders, and the negative impact that co-response or alternative response programs would have on law enforcement agencies’ budgets.
  • However, many law enforcement and local government leaders also believe their local 9-1-1 service receives too many calls for police that do not require law enforcement attention and that their 9-1-1 dispatchers could accurately determine the appropriate responder for crisis emergencies. A higher percentage of law enforcement leaders believe that community residents would like an alternative to call in a crisis compared with local government officials.