Baltimore is moving closer to creating a new department focused on neighborhood safety and mental health.
City leaders said the plan would give people in crisis a response from trained professionals, while moving violence prevention work into a permanent department.
A Baltimore City Council committee advanced legislation Monday afternoon by a 12-to-1 vote, with two members absent, to create a Department of Neighborhood Safety. The plan would add an alternative response system for nonviolent emergency calls and bring the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement into the new department.
Council President Zeke Cohen said the change would also give the council more oversight.
“The department will house MONSE and create the capacity to deploy clinically trained responders quickly,” Cohen said.
The department would rely on opioid settlement money to get started. Some councilmembers want more details on how the program would be funded over time.
Baltimore City Councilman Mark Conway questioned whether the city has fully planned for its long-term costs. He warned that opioid restitution funds could run out sooner than intended and asked for more time to assess staffing and expenses.
“We’ll burn through it in 2032,” Conway said. “Six weeks is not enough to make this decision.”
If approved, the bill would face a final vote Nov. 9.
