by Chuck Hoven

     (Plain Press May 2026) After over a decade of community advocacy, the City of Cleveland now has in place a law that calls for a civilian led alternative to police response to calls for help with a mental health or behavioral health crisis. The new City Ordinance (1198-2024) is named for Tanisha Anderson, who died in 2014 when police, responding to a call for help for a mental health crisis, restrained her.

     At a February 7^th signing ceremony held at Case Western Reserve University’s School of Law, Mayor Justin Bibb signed the legislation that marks a change in how the City of Cleveland will respond to mental health crises in the future.

     An article by Colin McEwen in Case Western Reserve University’s (CWRU) University News says, “Mayor Bibb’s decision to sign the legislation outside of Cleveland City Hall underscored the School of Law’s role in the effort. The original draft of Tanisha’s Law was developed five years ago by then-Case Western Reserve law students Michael O’Donnell and Alexandra Mendez-Diez, working in collaboration with Anderson family advocates and several community partners.”

     In addition to the involvement of the CWRU law students, the article indicates the involvement of the CWRU Social Justice Institute, Tanisha Anderson’s family, and several community parters.

     In the years since her death in 2014, the family of Tanisha Anderson worked to gather the support of many community activists and community organizations to help create and push for the passage of the law. Supporters included the African American Policy Forum, the Case Western Reserve University Student Legislative Initiative of Cleveland, the CWRU Social Justice Institute, the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless, Policy Matters Ohio, #CareforCLE, and many others.

     On February 2, 2026, Cleveland City Council passed Tanisha’s Law which calls for the creation of a Bureau of Community Crisis Response within Cleveland’s Emergency Medical Services to coordinate responses to behavioral health crises in the city of Cleveland.

     The law was introduced in November of 2024 and sponsored by City Council Representatives Stephanie House-Jones, Charles Slife and now former City Council Representative Rebecca Maurer. Delay in passing the law was due to Mayor Justin Bibb’s administration’s objection to creating a separate Department for Community Crisis Response. A compromise was reached and the amended law now calls for a Bureau within the Department of Emergency Medical Services.

     A statement from Cleveland City Council says the law “establishes a new, compassionate approach to responding to mental health and behavioral health crises in Cleveland, prioritizing dignity, safety, and appropriate care over traditional law enforcement responses when possible.”

City Council’s statement outlines some of the key components of the law: 1).Creation of a Bureau of Community Crisis Response within Cleveland EMS, led by a Deputy Commissioner, to coordinate citywide crisis response efforts in collaboration with public safety, public health, and other city departments.2) Unarmed Crisis Response Teams made up of behavioral health professionals, social workers, peers with lived experience, and clinicians. These teams will be dispatched—often instead of police—to non-violent behavioral health crises, wellness checks, substance-use crises, and quality-of-life calls.3).Crisis call diversion through embedding mental health clinicians in the 9-1-1 dispatch center to route appropriate calls away from policing and toward behavioral health responses.4) Follow-up care and service connection, with responders assessing needs, providing resources, making referrals, and helping individuals access appropriate facilities or services.

     According to the statement from Cleveland City Council some of the transparency and accountability measures included in the law are: “1) Ongoing data collection of effectiveness, outcomes, costs and return on investment. 2) An annual public report on program impact and recommendations and 3). A public online dashboard showing response data, police hours saved, and community feedback.”

     City Council says the law also calls for expanding crisis intervention training for police officers. City Council says this includes: “1) Mandatory crisis intervention training for all officers (initial and annual refresher) 2) Specialized, voluntary 40-hour training for designate Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) officers.  3)Stricter eligibility standards for CIT officers, excluding those with histories of excessive force complaints. 4) Public education and engagement, with outreach to inform residents about the new crisis response system and how to access it.”

     The law is named after Tanisha Anderson, who at age 37 was killed by police responding to a mental health crisis call from her family. Police officers responding to the call were not trained in Crisis Intervention.

     As this issue of the Plain Press is going to print, the City of Cleveland has not yet released an implementation schedule for the creation of the new Bureau of Community Crisis Response, or the hiring of a Deputy Director to run it. The Plain Press has reached out to Mayor Bibb’s Media Relations Department for information about the implementation schedule for the new law and when the required “public education and engagement with outreach to inform residents about the new crisis response system and how to access it ” will occur.

     It is the hope of all those involved in creating this new law, that what happened to Tanisha Anderson in 2014, will not be repeated in the City of Cleveland. A description of what happened to Tanisha Anderson is contained in an article written by Collin Cunningham and published by The Land in December of 2024 titled “New law seeks to honor Tanisha Anderson’s legacy while making police accountable for mental health scenarios.” The article describes second 911 call made by Anderson’s family on that fateful day in November of 2014 and what ensued afterward:

     Family members at the Hough address made a subsequent call to dispatch around 10:45 p.m., informing authorities that the 37-year-old had exited onto the porch, wearing the sundress she customarily used as a night gown, to wash the windows. Tanisha’s relatives requested EMS (Emergency Medical Services) support, expressing concern that Tanisha would become ill walking outdoors shoeless in temperatures that bottomed out around 28 degrees. 

     In response, dispatch sent a separate set of CDP (Cleveland Division of Police) officers to investigate: Scott Aldridge, a detective, and Brian Meyers, Aldridge’s partner, who decided upon arrival to take Tanisha to St. Vincent Charity Medical Center for a psychiatric evaluation. Tanisha agreed and cooperated until she saw the police car; she then became upset and refused to go. 

     In the article, Tanisha Anderson’s uncle, Michael Anderson, describes what he learned happened next: “… officers tried to force Tanisha into the car; when she refused, they brought out handcuffs and tackled her in an attempt at restraining her.

     “It was November, so the ground was cold,” Anderson added. “Officer Scott Aldridge had his knee on her back… and he’s (talking to the) family members. She started saying the Lord’s Prayer, not realizing she was losing her breath. I don’t know if she said, ‘I can’t breathe.’ … She was overweight, and when you are (lying) down like that and someone’s got their knee on your back, something’s going to happen where your lungs won’t open up.”

     Editor’s note: To view the article in The Land referenced in this article visit: www.thelandCle.org.