New team-up of Utica police, Neighborhood Center to respond to mental health calls
Observer-DispatchMay 20, 2021
A pilot partnership between the
Officials made the announcement Thursday morning at
"It's always been more reactive than proactive," he said of law enforcement's response to such calls.
Combined effort: Crisis Intervention Team will work to get people services they need to 'thrive in society'
The year-long pilot program, which officially began
"They're going to be doing the field work that's kind of lacking in the mental health community,"
The program was sponsored by the
Williams said he is hopeful funding will be made available to continue the program past the year, and eventually be expanded upon.
'Working towards the same goals'
"So far, there's no such thing as a typical day for us," Hairston said.
But they have responded to high-intensity situations, as well. When out in the field, Hairston wears a bulletproof vest marking her as a civilian. Vomer also will enter a scene first.
Vomer, who has a bachelor's degree in psychology, became interested in serving in the program after assisting in research on other police departments' crisis intervention teams. Hairston said she was interested in working alongside an officer in a similar manner to her prior work at state prisons with corrections officers.
"We're working towards the same goals," Hairston said.
This article originally appeared on
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