NJ pilot program that pairs police with mental health program has resulted in “effectively… no uses of force” in 911 responses

[essentialsaltes]

Program that allies police and mental health workers for 911 calls expands

The ARRIVE Together initiative, launched in Cumberland County in December 2021, was created to reduce the number of times police used force when responding to 911 calls during a behavioral health crisis.

wo out of every three uses of force by police officers in New Jersey involved an individual suffering from mental illness or who was under the influence of drugs or alcohol, according to the attorney general’s office.

Currently, in areas where the program is in place, police join mental health screeners when responding to those calls. That has effectively reduced the use of force to zero, Platkin commented.

 

[PloverWing]

That's so cool! I hadn't heard that New Jersey was doing this. I'm glad it's working, and I hope they expand into my county soon.

 

[FireDragon76]

How do they ensure the safety of mental healthcare workers?

 

[essentialsaltes]

How do they ensure the safety of mental healthcare workers?

In this case, they are accompanied by police, not sent instead of police.

 

[Blade]

Sorry haha good luck with this.

 

[iluvatar5150]

Sorry haha good luck with this.

What a bizarre response.

 

[PloverWing]

Sorry haha good luck with this.

The thing to note is that it seems to be working. Not all good-seeming ideas work in practice, but we have an actual practical experiment. Look at the date: the pilot program has been in place for over a year, and the empirical results are good. The state is taking a sensible approach of trying the program in one county, seeing how it works in practice, then expanding it to a few more counties, seeing how that works, etc. It looks like the luck is indeed good so far.

 

[Hank77]

Sorry haha good luck with this.

The similar Colorado program is also working well.