EMS, Fire, Police and the 911 Call Center make up the existing four branches of the public safety system. A special series from Tradeoffs and The Marshall Project explores how a city radically changes its response to people in crisis, by creating a fifth branch. 

Nearly half of the country’s 50 largest cities - including San Francisco, New York, Houston, Chicago - have launched programs to send unarmed responders to 911 calls historically handled by cops. In the process creating a new generation of first responders made up of clinicians, EMTs and unarmed mental health workers all responding to people who struggle with addiction, homelessness and mental illness. 

To understand this work we head to Durham, North Carolina, which has - in the face of skepticism and downright opposition - built one of the most comprehensive programs in the country.

How did Durham pull off what so many cities have struggled to do? Join Tradeoffs and The Marshall Project for our new series The Fifth Branch as we examine this groundbreaking work and the challenges it’s facing, both in Durham and around the country. Episodes drop July 18, July 25 and August 1.

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