Oklahoma City’s Mobile Integrated Healthcare program, launched a year ago to divert mental health-related emergency calls away from police toward trained behavioral health professionals, has responded to more than 5,000 calls for service involving mental health issues since beginning operations in May 2025. The program was born out of 39 police reform recommendations from 21CP Solutions, following increased calls for alternative public safety responses to behavioral health issues.
Program Structure and Results
Mobile Integrated Healthcare comprises four teams: a Crisis Call Diversion team at the 911 Communications Center, a Crisis Response Team for high-risk situations, an Alternative Response Team for overdoses and less-acute mental health needs, and a Community Advocacy Program for non-emergency needs. The program has already demonstrated measurable impact. In 2024, police responded to 9,634 mental health calls. In 2025, once MIH began operating, that number dropped to 6,905, and the average time officers spent on those calls decreased by three minutes.
According to the program, about one in four adults in Oklahoma experience mental illness or substance use disorders, but many go untreated due to high costs and systemic barriers. Before MIH, OKC police were primarily expected to handle behavioral health emergencies by placing individuals in protective custody, with little additional support available for those who did not meet certain severity criteria.
Team Impact and Feedback
The program features peer recovery support specialists and behavioral health navigators with lived experience in substance use disorder. This approach has been broadly welcomed. Police Lt. Tim Land stated that “MIH is game-changing, and I can see them being the cornerstone of Oklahoma City’s mental health response.” Paramedics working on the MIH team have reported a shift from burnout to renewed purpose, with the ability to see long-term outcomes and watch people recover over time. An event celebrating the anniversary of Mobile Integrated Healthcare was held on Tuesday, May 12, at the Cornett MAPS 3 Health and Wellness Center at 6 p.m.
This article is an AI-assisted summary. All facts and figures are drawn from the original report: https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/local/oklahoma-city/2026/05/12/okc-mobile-integrated-healthcare-first-year-police-reforms/89858084007/