Law Enforcement Action Partnership

I can't overstate how popular these programs became and how fast it happened.

According to the advocacy organization Law Enforcement Action Partnership, or LEAP, in 2016, there were six alternative response programs in the entire country.

Today, there are 93 across 31 states.

Most are in liberal cities like Austin, Texas or Asheville, North Carolina, but others have popped up in more conservative places, like Cookeville, Tennessee or Tulsa, Oklahoma.

A study from this year found that 77% of Durham's police department now considers the program helpful.

That workload reduction is not insignificant.

According to the advocacy organization LEAP, alternative first response teams now take 200,000 calls from police each year.

And you might be worried that these teams find themselves in dangerous situations that they aren't equipped to handle.