WASHINGTON, D.C. — If you call 911 in the future, don’t be surprised if someone shows up with a clipboard instead of a badge.

Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley is pushing two new crime bills that would replace police officers at emergency scenes with federally funded mental health workers, in what may be the most ambitious reimagining of public safety since “Defund the Police” flamed out.

The plan? Send therapists to de-escalate crises, social workers to handle chaos, and put public safety under the control of the Department of Health and Human Services — not local law enforcement.

Because when seconds count, the federal bureaucracy is only a few meetings away.

Two bills, no police

Pressley’s plan includes two federal bills:

• The People’s Response Act: Creates a new public safety division inside HHS, launches a federal first responder unit, and promotes “non-carceral” approaches — code for don’t call the cops.

• The Mental Health Justice Act: Sends millions in federal funding to cities and states to hire, train, and dispatch mental health workers to respond to 911 calls instead of police — especially for mental illness, addiction, and homelessness.

In other words: press 1 for a therapist, press 2 for a crisis counselor, and press 3 if you’re bleeding out and would like to hold.

Public safety — brought to you by wellness culture

Supporters say it’s time to stop treating mental health crises with handcuffs. But nowhere in Pressley’s plan is there a serious role for actual law enforcement — the people who show up when things get dangerous, unpredictable, or violent.

Instead, the solution is health-based responders — unarmed, government-funded staff trained in de-escalation techniques, trauma-informed care, and presumably, the power of good vibes.

The phrase “non-carceral” appears again and again in Pressley’s materials — as if the problem with crime is that too many criminals are facing consequences.

Local crime, federal fix?

The bills would create an entirely new federal infrastructure for emergency response — handing decision-making to Washington, funding to HHS, and authority to health bureaucrats.

In short, it’s a federal takeover of public safety, with police departments demoted to a backup plan, if they’re mentioned at all.

Never mind the local beat cop who knows the neighborhood — Pressley wants a wellness task force with laminated flowcharts and a federal logo.

Critics call it Defund 2.0 — but make it HR-approved

While Pressley avoids the phrase “Defund the Police,” the end result is the same: take power, funding, and responsibility away from law enforcement, and hand it to social workers and public health experts.

What could go wrong?

This isn’t just theory — Boston has already tried pilot programs along these lines, and the results have been, at best, mixed. But Pressley wants to scale the experiment nationwide.

Forget reform. This is a total reset — with law enforcement written out of the picture.

The bottom line

Violent crime is still a problem in major cities. Fentanyl overdoses are rising. Mental health crises are getting worse.

And Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley’s answer is to replace police with unarmed mental health squads, backed by federal grants and good intentions.

No badge. No gun. Just someone trained in conflict resolution and holding space.

Welcome to the future of public safety — unless, of course, you actually need to be safe.