The legislation, led by City Council President Zeke Cohen, now heads to Mayor Brandon Scott's desk for his signature. Councilman Mark Conway, who represents District 4, cast the lone dissenting vote. Councilman Antonio Glover was absent.

"This bill is approved," Cohen said after the vote.

Cohen argued the new department is necessary to relieve police officers of duties he said fall outside traditional law enforcement.

"Our officers are asked to do far too much. People experiencing crises and our officers deserve better," Cohen said.

He pointed to the human toll of the current system, saying, "The city is tired of seeing people die in mental health crisis."

Cohen also said the city spends heavily on police overtime and that officers have expressed frustration with being tasked with responding to mental health calls.

"This is a city that spends an enormous amount of money on police overtime. And what we've heard overwhelmingly from officers is that they are tired of carrying the burden of our city's mental health crisis. People signed up to be police officers because they wanted to go after bad guys," he said.

Cohen has suggested that shifting certain calls away from police could reduce overtime spending over time, and that savings from the Baltimore Police Department's overtime budget could help fund the new agency.

Conway said he supported the concept behind the department but raised concerns about its cost and the council's process for approving it.

"I appreciate the work to be done by the Department of Neighborhood Safety. My concern is primarily around the finances," Conway said.

The full cost of the new department remains unknown, though Conway said it could carry an initial price tag of at least $50 million.

"I don't think it is the way we should do business. I do think it's our responsibility as shepherds of the tax dollar to be very thoughtful about how we spend that money and I don't think we've been thoughtful in this decision today," he said.

Conway also said he would want to see more analysis before relying on overtime savings to fund the department.

"I think that would be great if we could find the savings in overtime... we've done that in the past. We've had savings in overtime, but we've struggled to maintain those savings. Nevertheless, if it did help with overtime, I'd love to see that analysis and make sure that we actually have understanding how we're going to do that," he said.

Cohen praised the council's overwhelming support for the measure.

"I am incredibly proud of my colleagues on this council who overwhelmingly supported this legislation. And I will just remind the viewers, this has been a journey. We have been hearing for years that Baltimore needs a crisis response system," he said.

Mayor Scott said on X earlier Monday night that he was grateful for the bill's passage, calling it critically important to continuing crime reduction efforts in the city.

With the bill now headed to the mayor, Cohen said the next step is finding an executive director for the new agency to help with staffing the department.

The vote marks a significant shift in how Baltimore approaches public safety, moving toward a model that treats mental health crises as a public health issue rather than solely a law enforcement matter. Supporters say the change could reduce unnecessary police interactions with people in crisis and free up officers to focus on violent crime. Critics, meanwhile, question whether the city can afford the new department amid broader budget pressures.