San Antonio’s mental health crisis team expands to 24 hours beginning Monday [Video]

SAN ANTONIO — Starting Monday, mental health response teams in San Antonio will operate 24/7.

The mental health response teams are made up of a police officer, a paramedic, and a clinician. Known as SA-Core, they respond to all non-violent mental health calls in the city. 

“So you’ve got a combo response  that will deal with  someone who’s in crisis,” said San Antonio Police Chief William McManus. “You’ve got everyone there who  is trained to deal with that situation in those situations.”

Before the program began, patrol officers alone were the first to respond. 

“It does relieve patrol officers from having to respond to mental health calls, which, again, is not something that we necessarily want to or should be doing,” Chief McManus said. 

The program started in 2022 with …