INDIANAPOLIS -- Indianapolis city leaders announced plans Tuesday to improve the response to mental health issues in the community by improving teamwork between multiple agencies. The Unified Mental Health Response Initiative will be a 24/7 effort that emphasizes cooperation and teamwork by various first responders, without always having police take the lead. Every single day, 911 calls come in and IMPD officers are dispatched to mental health emergencies. However, sometimes a police presence can actually escalate those problems. "A law enforcement response isn't always necessary or appropriate for these runs," said IMPD Chief Chris Bailey. Chief Bailey said he believes the unified initiative will improve response to those incidents. In a nutshell, dispatchers will try to determine first and foremost if a scene is safe. If there's an active public safety threat, IMPD officers will instantly take the lead. If the scene is safe, then the city's Mobile Crisis Assistance Teams or Clinician Led Response Teams will take over. If those units aren't available, because they don't operate 24/7, then IEMS and IFD will take the lead with IMPD serving only as a backup. "Our goal is simple," Bailey said. "It's to make sure individuals in crisis receive the most appropriate care and effective care while also prioritizing the safety of everyone involved." The hope is that with all first responders working together, the coordinated and unified response will provide those in need with better care and maybe take some of the burden off police who traditionally served as the lead agency to nearly every mental health crisis call. "Whichever agency takes the lead, it allows us to ease into the situation and allows us to have a successful outcome," said Indianapolis Fire Department Battalion Chief Rita Reith. Other agency leads agreed. “This is going to allow us to slow down, work together with our public safety partners, and come up with a plan on how to do this in a safe way for the patient and everyone else involved,” said IEMS Chief Dan O’Donnell. Indy fire officials echoed this sentiment. "This initiative is an important reminder for us as agencies, that complexities within these incidents, requires a dedicated lane of unified training to bring about a successful resolution for patients experiencing a mental health crisis," said IFD Chief Ernest Malone. "While IFD, IMPD and IEMS already train together, for other types of incidents, the challenges we face involving mental health crises, can potentially have dangerous outcomes for responders, family members or the patient themselves. We are very pleased to be part of this proactive response model providing help, hope and resources to those who need them." Following a call, the individual or family members will be connected with local resources such MCAT or CLCR team. All agencies have started the joint training and the unified response is expected to launch later this month. If you or someone you know is experiencing a mental health crisis and there is not an immediate threat, you can call or text 988 in Indiana at any time.