For the past 18 months, Pittsburgh has quietly built something rare: a model for responding to mental health crises that pairs police officers with trained social workers in the same vehicle. This co-response program has helped build trust with communities, reduce harm, and give officers the support they need when facing situations they were never trained to handle alone.

Now, city officials are planning to dismantle it.

Public safety leadership says the new “Crisis Response Teams” will offer better coverage. But the reality is this shift removes social workers from the front lines—placing them in separate cars, arriving later, after crises are already underway. That’s not a fix. That’s a rollback.

Clinicians, community members, and even police officers who’ve seen the value of co-response firsthand are speaking out. They weren’t consulted. They weren’t warned. And they know what’s really at stake: years of trust and partnership, tossed aside with the stroke of a pen.

Elizabeth Pittinger, director of the Citizen Police Review Board, said it best: “We get something that’s working, and people are enthused about it… then, poof, gone. Why?”

We’re calling on Mayor Ed Gainey, Public Safety Director Lee Schmidt, and City Council Members to immediately pause the elimination of the co-response program and conduct a transparent public review of its outcomes. Community safety decisions deserve community input.

If this program wasn’t “effective,” why did officers and social workers want it expanded—not ended? Why was the city still hiring for it just weeks ago? And why should Pittsburgh turn its back on a model other cities are just beginning to embrace?

Sign this petition if you believe crisis calls deserve more than a delayed response. Sign if you believe in showing up—together.