Raheem provides alternative 911 services

The Future. A startup called Raheem is developing an app that allows people to contact alternative emergency services instead of the police. With trust between citizens and police at an all-time low, alternative emergency service providers like Raheem may help de-escalate nonviolent confrontations, especially ones where police aren’t typically trained to handle with the same depth as other professionals.

Curated emergency response
Raheem believes not every situation calls for calling 911.

• Raheem is building an app that will allow people to call emergency services (that aren’t the police).
• It does so by contracting community organizations and mobile crisis teams that can use the app as a dispatch tool.
• The pilot version of the app is already being tested with various organizations, with a full beta version set to be released next year.

Community support
Although it may be the first to offer such services at scale, Raheem is following a growing trend of organizations pushing for alternative emergency response.

• MH First connects trained volunteers in Sacramento and Oakland with those undergoing a mental health crisis.
• Revolutionary Emergency Partners in Minneapolis has a hotline for nonviolent emergencies, such as noise complaints.

By making services available that don’t require a call to the police, cities may find that their police force has more bandwidth to respond to emergencies that truly require their attention and expertise.