After success, NJ expanding pilot to reduce police use of force against people in crisis

New Jersey will expand a pilot program into Union County that pairs plainclothes police officers with mental health experts and sends them on emergency calls that involve people in crisis, the state attorney general announcedonday.

First launched last December in Cumberland County, the program has already met with some success, according to acting Attorney General Matthew Platkin. State statistics show that mental health calls often lead to officers using force on the people they're sent to help. But the officer-and-expert teams didn't use force once, Platkin said.

"A significant proportion of incidents that involve the use of force — including incidents that involve the use of deadly force — involve mental health or emotional distress," Platkin said at a news conference in Scotch Plains. "So the fact that we've had zero uses of force [through the program] in Cumberland County underscores the importance of this program and the impact it can have."

Platkin said his office will now partner with local law enforcement in the Union County towns of Linden and Elizabeth and try to replicate those results. Eventually, he wants to expand the program statewide, he said.

"My goal is to keep scaling it up," Platkin said. "We know this is what is needed."

When the initiative, dubbed ARRIVE Together, was unveiled seven months ago, the Attorney General's Office said two-thirds of every police use-of-force case in New Jersey involved someone who either had mental illness or was under the influence. So did half of the public's fatal encounters with police.

The Attorney General's Office called this unacceptable and said the program was an attempt to change it.

ARRIVE Together operated out of New Jersey State Police stations in Bridgeton and Port Norris. A plainclothes trooper and a certified mental health screener were sent on calls together, sharing an eight-hour shift in an unmarked police car. They handled calls for mental health issues, confused or disoriented people, welfare checks and suicide watches.

The mental health screener takes the lead, the Attorney General's Office said. But they don't get out of the car until the trooper determines the scene is safe.

The screener then determines when a person should be hospitalized or remain in the community.

In Cumberland County, the teams responded to about 36 calls in six months, according to the Attorney General's Office. It also connected people with follow-up services 21 times.

"We're not only diverting people away from the criminal justice system ... toward services they need, but we're reducing the likelihood of a use-of-force incident," Platkin said. "And we're already seeing great success."

Gov. Phil Murphy said in a statement that he was proud of the pilot program's achievements.

“Connecting individuals experiencing a behavioral health crisis with mental health professionals will help to de-escalate these situations in a safe and healthy way," Murphy said. "This program is yet another tool for our law enforcement officers to utilize and better assist the communities they serve.”

With the expansion, a screener from Trinitas Regional Medical Center in Elizabeth will travel in an unmarked car with a plainclothes officer from the Elizabeth or Linden police department. They'll work eight-hour shifts twice a week, and will answer mental or behavioral crisis calls in those areas.

They'll also visit people in the community who law enforcement believe will benefit from their services.

"We can provide these services in ways that help keep people safe, build trust between law enforcement and the community and ultimately reduce the likelihood of those worst possible incidents," Platkin said.

Chief Giacomo Sacca of the Elizabeth Police Department said he thinks screeners will help defuse the tense situations that sometimes spring from a mentally ill person who sees police at the door.

"We de-escalate it by having civilians there," Sacca said. "Through this program, through the different methods we'll be using ... we're hoping to create something that can possibly change policing in the future."

The initiative won't help only law enforcement, however.

It will also help the mentally ill, who might be jailed or otherwise detained in facilities unprepared or unequipped to help them, said Pamela B. Jones, chief executive officer of Communities in Cooperation Inc.

"All of us will benefit from this," Jones said. "It will reduce costs and reduce burdens on any one entity, provide more effective support for individuals with mental health illnesses and keep them out of the revolving doors of incarceration."

Steve Janoski covers law enforcement for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to the most important news about those who safeguard your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Email: janoski@northjersey.com 

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This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NJ expands pilot to reduce police use of force on mental health calls