The Union County Prosecutor’s Office announced on Tuesday the expansion of New Jersey’s highly regarded ARRIVE Together program to additional police departments in Union County. The program aims to provide a compassionate response to 9-1-1 calls involving mental health crises by teaming up a police officer trained in crisis intervention with a civilian certified mental health screener. Both the officer and the crisis worker wear plain clothes and arrive in an unmarked police vehicle, with the mental health screener taking the lead during the encounter.
The program’s focus is on providing individuals in crisis with the help they need as quickly and effectively as possible while also protecting responding officers and preventing escalation. The ARRIVE Together team follows up on calls to ensure the individual is doing well and does not need further mental health support. Since its inception, there have been no injuries or escalations associated with Union County ARRIVE Together calls.
Elizabeth and Linden Police Departments piloted the program in June 2022, and it has since expanded to Roselle Park, Clark, Cranford, Plainfield, Scotch Plains, and Westfield, as well as the Union County Police Department and the Union County Sheriff’s Office.