Bass’s directive advances reforms Raman and other council members backed before the mayoral debate. Full operation is targeted for July 2027.
When a relative or neighbor is in distress, calling for help can mean making a difficult judgment: Does this person need police, medical care or someone trained to calm a crisis?
Los Angeles is planning to make that decision easier for the operators who answer those calls. Mayor Karen Bass signed a directive October 23 to bring the city’s two civilian crisis-response dispatch systems together, with full operation targeted for July 1, 2027.
Despite the announcement’s “launch” language, the directive sets a process for building the unified center. It does not establish that a fully integrated service opened that day.
The proposal also has a history beyond the mayoral campaign. Councilmember Nithya Raman, Bass’s challenger, helped advance consolidation legislation in March 2025.
For families waiting for help, the test will be whether the changes get an appropriate team to someone who needs assistance, and what happens after that team arrives.
Los Angeles already has two civilian response programs: CIRCLE, which stands for Crisis and Incident Response through Community-Led Engagement, and the Unarmed Model of Crisis Response, or UMCR.
Both send unarmed teams to eligible calls. But they have separate dispatch systems, leaving emergency operators to determine which program should receive a call.
Executive Directive 23 orders the City Administrative Officer to seek contractors for technology and call-center operations. The planned system would allow electronic call transfers and coordinated deployment.
Funding options and an implementation schedule are due within 30 days. Reports on dispatcher hiring, technology and performance are due within 60 days. The long-term management structure remains undecided.
The directive sets a goal for improving service. Whether it shortens waits or gets help to people faster will have to be measured as the changes take effect.
On March 25, 2025, Raman and Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson advanced a proposal to assess how Los Angeles could create one citywide unarmed-response program.
Their consolidation motion described separate administrative and dispatch operations, inconsistent rules and potential confusion for residents. It sought an assessment of response times, coverage, staffing, costs and management.
The Council adopted the report as amended on February 24, 2026, with 12 members voting yes and three absent. cityclerk.lacity.org
Councilmembers Bob Blumenfield and Eunisses Hernandez also led a separate effort to establish a dispatch-coordination working group. Bass’s directive explicitly builds on that group. cityclerk.lacity.org
On September 30, the Council adopted further instructions to develop a unified citywide model, before the October 13 televised debate. cityclerk.lacity.org
That record gives Raman a documented role in the reforms Bass is now advancing. It also shows that consolidation has involved several council members and multiple Council actions.
As the candidates debate public safety, residents should be able to distinguish what already exists, what officials have approved and what still needs to be built.
A diverted call is only part of the picture
A March 2026 city performance report shows why success needs to mean more than moving calls away from police.
From UMCR’s March 2024 launch through February 17, 2026, the program recorded 19,827 diverted calls. Of those, 7,873 had an “assisted outcome,” while 8,841 were classified as “gone on arrival.” Another 761 were redirected to LAPD.
That means about 40% were recorded as assisted and about 45% as gone on arrival. These are UMCR figures, not the combined results of both programs.
Average response time was 27.4 minutes for January 2025 through February 2026. The figures provide a historical baseline, not a measure of service this October. cityclerk.lacity.org
“Gone on arrival” does not establish that a delay caused someone to leave. The report does not explain what happened in each case.
But it raises a practical question for the new system: Can teams reach more people while they are still there to receive help?
What follows also matters, including whether people can connect with treatment, mental-health care and housing after the immediate crisis.
What residents should know
The directive does not announce a new public number for the unified center.
The city’s published CIRCLE guidance directs residents to 877-ASK-LAPD, or 877-275-5273, and the non-emergency dispatch option to request CIRCLE. An operator decides whether the situation qualifies and is within the program’s service area.
That guidance dates to January 2024. Callers should confirm availability rather than assume the program covers every neighborhood. mayor.lacity.gov
For immediate danger or a medically urgent emergency, call 911.
The next checkpoints are the funding, hiring and implementation reports. Those will show how the city intends to deliver its promise. The results that follow should show whether callers spend less time waiting and more people actually receive help.
