Florida police department to hire social workers for non-violent 911 calls

The department has also stated that it will not be adding 25 officers over the next 24 months as it previously said it would, according to Breitbart.

The press release said:

Starting October 1, a CAL team member will respond to the following issues in place of a police officer, involving disorderly intoxication, drug overdose, suicide crisis, mental health crisis, truancy, disorderly juveniles, panhandling, neighborhood disputes, and any complaints over the homeless.

Last year, the police received nearly 13,000 calls for those types of situations.

These social workers will be dressed in plainclothes and will not be equipped with any weapons. The move has the support of this region's police union, the Sun Coast Police Benevolent Association.

It is unknown how the police department intends to deal with highly aggressive drunken or disorderly drug abusers on substances like methamphetamine and PCP, or mentally-ill individuals who may be difficult to disarm.

“With the CAL team handling non-violent calls, uniformed officers will have more time to walk in the community and build relationships,” the report noted.

“The Police Department will lose $3,125,000 in federal grant funding awarded to pay for the new officers and $3,800,000 the City had earmarked in matching funds required by the grant. The City will instead use those funds to pay for this new service,” the press release stated.

Speaking to the press, St. Petersburg Police Chief Anthony Holloway announced that "change is coming to the St. Pete Police Department."

"We’re asked sometimes to help someone raise their kid, or has a mental issue," he said. "Yes we go through a lot of training, but we don’t have enough. We’re not experts in that."