Founded in June 2020, dontcallthepolice.com is an online directory of local resources available as alternatives to calling the police or 911.
We know that involving law enforcement in situations that they are not best equipped to handle can cause more harm than good. These harms disproportionately impact communities of color and the populations most in need of systemic and community supports. We founded dontcallthepolice.com to provide easy access to alternatives to calling the police when faced with a situation that requires de-escalation and/or intervention, and can be best managed by a community-based crisis response provider.
As advocates work toward policy and funding solutions to develop alternative systems of public safety, every individual can make a difference by changing how we interact with the police and ensuring that law enforcement is not the first call when a more appropriate resource is available.
In identifying resources for this page, we focus on organizations that provide emergency or crisis services, in order to best target the type of immediate concerns that most often lead people to call the police or 911. Every resource on our page is vetted for its policies related to law enforcement involvement. If there is any likelihood of police involvement beyond what is required by law, we clearly describe these circumstances in our listings.
We hope that this site facilitates a vision of what a better, safer, community-based system of public safety might look like. We will continue to work to support to Black and POC-led organizations working to reimagine public safety.