New Jersey expanding mental health initiative to Elizabeth, Linden police departments
SCOTCH PLAINS — Officers in the Elizabeth and Linden police departments will soon be accompanied by mental health professionals when responding to calls involving a people in crisis, part of a program that's already in place in Cumberland County, Acting Attorney General Matt Platkin announced Monday.
The “ARRIVE Together” initiative, which is designed to prevent police use of force incidents, is being implemented in the two Union County cities with the long-term goal of expanding it statewide, Platkin said.
Context: Launched in December 2021 in Cumberland County, the program is designed to reduce police use of force incidents by addressing mental health crises — calls Platkin said disproportionately lead to use of force — directly.
Platkin said the effort in Cumberland County has been a “great success,” with no use-of-force incidents reported when police and a mental health professional respond to calls involving people in crisis.
“Over the last several decades, we’ve asked law enforcement, frankly, to do too much,” Platkin said during a press conference at the John H. Stamler Police Academy in Scotch Plains. “We’ve asked them to be mental health professionals and behavioral health counselors and addiction specialists, and it’s not realistic to ask one person to be all of those things.”
With ARRIVE Together an apparent success in mostly rural Cumberland County, Elizabeth and Linden will be the first cities in North Jersey to pilot the program.
A 2019 investigation by NJ.com, the Force Report, showed both cities had higher rates of use-of-force incidents than the statewide average.
How it works: According to Platkin, the program is in effect during two eight-hour shifts per week. If dispatchers identify a mental health crisis call during these times, a plainclothes police officer will respond in tandem with a mental health professional, who will help direct the distressed person to health care resources.
Part of dispatch’s job is to identify these crises, Platkin said.
“A lot of these are, I hate to say it, but, frequent flyers,” he said. “They’re the people who come into contact with law enforcement because they do suffer from emotional distress.”
In Union County, mental health professionals will be supplied by Trinitas Regional Medical Center in Elizabeth.
What they're saying: Platkin said the initiative was part of a larger reform effort by Gov. Phil Murphy’s administration.
“When we’re talking about how we do criminal justice reform, or how we make changes, how we deliver enforcement services, we do it in partnership,” he said.
Pam Jones, the CEO and director of Communities in Cooperation, a reentry services group, said the program would keep people with mental health issues out of the “revolving door” of the prison system.
“This helps in diversion, taking those with mental health issues away from jail facilities and incarceration,” she said.
