NJ expanding ARRIVE Together program, which changes how police interact with mentally ill

As the nation grapples with the death of Tyre Nichols at the hands of law enforcement in Memphis, New Jersey officials announced an expansion of a program that pairs police with mental health experts, saying the approach has led to no injuries or arrests since its launch and could be a national model to improve trust between communities and officers.

Under ARRIVE Together, plainclothes officers pair up with mental health experts to respond in unmarked vehicles to certain 911 calls involving people facing mental health crises. Police departments plan to set up similar programs beginning in May in more than two dozen municipalities across 11 counties, including Middlesex, Hudson, Essex, Camden, Cape May, Mercer, Ocean, Cumberland, Atlantic and Union, state Attorney General Matthew Platkin announced Wednesday.

And Gov. Phil Murphy plans a $10 million infusion in his budget proposal to expand the program to the entire state, the governor announced at a press conference at St. Stephen's Roman Catholic Church in Perth Amboy on Wednesday.

“The past few weeks have been difficult, and we’ve had a lot of conversations across the state … about conduct of law enforcement that was reprehensible, conduct that destroys trust between law enforcement officers and our community,” Platkin said. “Those officers that murdered Tyre Nichols in Memphis didn’t just affect that trust in Memphis … their conduct affected us here in New Jersey. They made our jobs harder.

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“But I would submit that programs like ARRIVE Together, and the outcomes and the collaboration and the trust that it’s building, I think it’s an example of how things are getting better,” Platkin said.

The expected growth in the program starting this spring will be funded by $2 million from last year’s state budget, as well as a $550,000 federal grant.

ARRIVE, an acronym for “Alternative Responses to Reduce Instances of Violence and Escalation,” was launched by state police in December 2021 in Cumberland County and expanded the following year to the Elizabeth and Linden Police Departments and Atlantic City — where police used telehealth tablets to communicate with mental health professionals at AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center instead of in-person partners.

ARRIVE teams have encountered 300 people suffering from mental health or substance abuse disorders, and the interactions resulted in no injuries or arrests, Platkin said. Officers used force for “involuntary transfer to medical treatment as directed by the mental health professionals,” he said.

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According to a public dashboard published by the Attorney General’s Office, police across the entire state used force 8,800 times in 2021 and more than 9,200 times in 2022. Last year, officers estimated that 7,600 of these interactions involved someone going through a potential mental health incident.

“It’s hard to know — it’s a little bit like proving a negative — what would have happened if we didn’t have ARRIVE, but I read these logs every week and it’s very easy to imagine how they could have played out differently if this program wasn’t in place,” Platkin said.

In one case, a Cumberland County woman recently released from a psychiatric institution was having an episode and told an ARRIVE team she didn’t trust police. She was diverted to health care “without incident,” Platkin said.

In another instance, he said, a Union County man barricaded himself in his house, and after speaking with a mental health screener, he “willingly walked out” of the ambulance into a hospital.

And a homeless man broke down in tears when he encountered an ARRIVE team, thanking the members for helping get him to the intensive care unit, Platkin said.

The Brookings Institution is conducting an independent assessment of the program and expects to release a report this spring.

Human Services Commissioner Sarah Adelman said the program, along with the 988 suicide crisis lifeline, launched last summer, is “filling gaps” in mental health treatment.

“It is common sense, but it is also radical and system-changing work,” Adelman said.

The places that will begin deploying ARRIVE teams include:

Atlantic County

• Atlantic City

Camden County

• Clementon

• Gibbsboro

• Lindenwold

• Pine Hill

• Voorhees

Cape May County

• Lower Township

• Middle Township

Cumberland County

• Bridgeton

• Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office

• Millville

• Vineland

Essex County

• Bloomfield

• East Orange

• Orange

Hudson County

• Bayonne

• Hudson County Sheriff’s Office

Mercer County

• Ewing

• Hamilton

Middlesex County

• Edison

• Highland Park

• Woodbridge

Ocean County

• Beachwood

• Berkeley

• Ocean Gate

• Pine Beach

Union County

• Clark

• Cranford

• Elizabeth

• Linden

• Plainfield

• Roselle Park

• Scotch Plains

• Union County Commissioners

• Union County Police Department

• Union County Sheriff’s Office

• Westfield

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NJ expanding police ARRIVE Together program for mentally ill cases