New facility in Jersey City aims to help police learn de-escalation techniques, help people in crisis
Public Safety Director James Shea led News 12 New Jersey on a tour of the facility, which includes modules where officers can train on domestic violence calls, traffic stops, and simulations involving people having a mental health crisis.
Top Stories
A new public safety facility has opened in Jersey City to teach its approximately 900-member police force de-escalation techniques and help people in crisis.
Public Safety Director James Shea led News 12 New Jersey on a tour of the facility, which includes modules where officers can train on domestic violence calls, traffic stops, and simulations involving people having a mental health crisis.
"The more opportunity the officers have to do it to practice, to recognize it. the more chance they have in the street to not be facing something for the first time. And to feel unsure and unprepared," said Shea. "To have our officers in these scenarios that mimic schizophrenia, paranoia, how an autistic person responds, and then let them run through it."
These situations have played out in real life with deadly effects.
Recently in Fort Lee, Victoria Lee was shot and killed while in a mental health crisis.
And in 2023, Andrew Washington, of Jersey City, was in crisis when he was shot and killed by a police officer while holding a knife.
The state attorney general is calling for Jersey City to join the Arrive Together program, which requires a mental health professional to be called in to help.
Director Shea says he is on board with some understanding.
"I think the public misunderstands those programs," says Shea.
“We want the public to understand it is not an alternative to that initial police response where we have to secure the scene.”
Mayor Steve Fulop says the training center has been in the works for four years.
"After George Floyd, we started to think more about how to better the engagement between the community and city," he said. "I think police want to be better at their job. Training leads to better outcomes. It's smart for any city invest in training."
The new facility also contains a brand-new shooting range.
"We’d rather that an officer who missed something in training or needs a little retraining, we’d rather they do it in here than have it manifest on the street," says Shea.
