CIRCLE program expands to more neighborhoods in West L.A. [Video]

Efforts will begin this weekend to increase an unarmed response program to deal with homelessness and mental health issues in West Los Angeles.

CIRCLE, which stands for Crisis and Incident Response through Community-led Engagement, is a 24/7 unarmed response program that deploys trained teams to address non-urgent LAPD calls related to unhoused individuals.

It has operated as a pilot program for the past two years in the LAPD Pacific Area. And now, it will have a chance to have even more of an impact as the areas the response workers will cover grows.

The program will now reach “the neighborhoods of Oakwood, Mar Vista, Palms, Playa Vista, Playa Del Rey and Westchester,” said LAPD Captain Mike Applegate.

Applegate says not only are CIRCLE reps being assigned by regular dispatchers, police officers are also calling them in as they assess a call for service, as the department has determined a response …