Police officers in more than 30 municipalities statewide will be partnering this spring with mental health professionals to respond to crisis calls.
Gov. Phil Murphy was in Perth Amboy on Wednesday morning to announce a $10 million expansion of the “Arrive Together” program. The program sends mental health workers into the field with police officers. It began as a state police trial program.
State Police Superintendent Col. Pat Callahan says that he wishes the program was around when he was a young state trooper.
“A lot of times it’s not criminal behavior. It is that parent struggling with a teenager that is going through an episode. So, I would have loved to have had this program,” Callahan says. “What we’re also saying is it reduces the calls for service at that house, because we’re getting the people the help that they need. It means the family’s not calling 911 anymore.”
State Attorney General Matt Platkin says that in the 300 calls last year, there have been no injuries and no arrests. Officers have only used force when mental health professionals ordered a person to be committed to a facility.