The City of Lincoln is highlighting the success of its behavioral health co-responder program during National Co-Responder and Crisis Responder Week. The program is a partnership between the Lincoln Police Department and CenterPointe, with licensed behavioral health clinicians working alongside police officers to respond to people experiencing mental health or behavioral health crises.
Lincoln Police Investigator Doug Headlee says the partnership provides officers with a different perspective when responding to a crisis. “It provides clinical expertise, so we can look at it through that lens and address or come through an outcome that’s different than a traditional police response.”
CenterPointe Vice President of Community Response and Co-Responder Program Manager Amber Dierks says the program has responded to 589 calls during its first 18 months. She says 93 percent of those calls were resolved on scene, meaning only seven percent resulted in some type of involuntary intervention…