Experts say people who suffer from mental illness are more likely to be hurt or killed in encounters with the police.
So about a year and a half ago New Jersey started the ARRIVE Together program, ARRIVE standing for Alternative Responses to Reduce Instances of Violence and Escalation. It pairs mental health professionals with cops, for calls from people with mental illness.
The Brookings Institution recently held a discussion on how the program has worked so far. New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin said the results have been encouraging.
“One thing that I think sets ARRIVE apart from many of the other models is that they arrive in plainclothes, unmarked car, and they operate at the direction of the clinical professional. And that in and of itself has a significant effect in terms of de-escalation,” he said. Brookings analyzed the program to this point — 342 calls for service, force was used in about 3% of them.
Platkin said police simply have too much on their plates.
“I believe we've asked law enforcement to do way too much. I'm a lawyer. My wife's a psychologist. I can't do what she does. She wouldn't want to try. I mean, you may think I don't know how to do what I do. Some days I'm not sure. But she wouldn't. She wouldn't want to do what I do,” he said. “We ask law enforcement professionals in this country to not just be cops, but to be social workers and psychologists.”
So far, Platkin said, ARRIVE is an example of getting a lot for a little.
“One amazing thing about ARRIVE, this I haven't been able to prove yet, ARRIVE saves money, ARRIVE is not an expensive program. A lot of the resources that we use for this were already in existence,” he said.
Governor Murphy has announced a $10 million a year investment to expand the program statewide.