Police Department
Reference: Agreement for Co-Responder Services Between the City of Brighton and Community Reach Center, Inc.
To: Mayor Gregory Mills and Members of City Council
Through: Michael P. Martinez, City Manager
Prepared By: Monce Portillo, Police Commander
Date Prepared: March 1, 2023
PURPOSE
Requesting City Council approval of an agreement for co-responder services between the City of Brighton and Community Reach Center, Inc. (CRC)
STRATEGIC FOCUS AREA
Safe, Active and Engaged Community
BACKGROUND
In the first quarter of 2022, the City Council made a request to learn more about implementing a mental health co-responder program at BPD. The Police Department and City Council identified the need to better serve vulnerable community members experiencing mental health crises and substance abuse disorders. Since that time, Staff at BPD researched, applied, and were awarded a grant from the Bureau of Justice to support the implementation of the Mental Health Co-Responder Program. The BPD intends to further our partnership with CRC to collaborate on the creation of a mental health clinician/police response- co-responder program. Grant and City funding will provide contract services for 1 FTE Clinician, plus appropriate expenses related to the supervision, insurance, and mileage.
Policy Implications
The Brighton Police Department Co-Responder Program
Typically, BPD police officers respond to mental health events and are equipped with minimal options to offer community members or the capacity to resolve the situation. Officers must decide if the matter is criminal and whether the person should go to jail. Or, they have to make a determination whether there is enough information to place the person on a mental health hold at a hospital instead of jail. Research has found that many of the people with mental illness who have contact with police end up being criminalized, which is not what they need to be successful. Typically, neither the jail nor...
Click here for full text