Brooklyn Center Closer To Starting Team for Mental Health Response
After years of police reform discussions, Brooklyn Center is moving ahead with plans to implement a police alternative response pilot program for mental health calls.
Brooklyn Center Mayor April Graves told CCX News the current proposal would be similar to the alternative response pilot program operating in Brooklyn Park.
That is, the program would be a collaboration between Brooklyn Center, Hennepin County and North Memorial Health. A Hennepin County social worker and a North Memorial community paramedic would be available to respond to mental health calls-for-service.
However, the Brooklyn Center pilot program will also involve the organization Canopy Roots, which responds to mental health calls in Minneapolis.
That organization would respond to evening or other off-hours calls. That’s different than the Brooklyn Park program, where the alternative response team only responds during daytime business hours.
“I’m really excited about it,” Graves said. “I think that we’ll see a lot of success. And as more and more cities start to take on this, they’ll recognize that it actually saves us money in the long run as well.”
According to Graves, the city council has come to a consensus to move forward with the pilot, although not in a formal vote.
The city has grant funding available to help pay for the program, Graves said.
Brooklyn Park police say they’ve seen a drop in mental health calls since the program started.
Police Reform Plans in Brooklyn Center
Brooklyn Center has been in discussions related to police reform and alternative response since the fatal shooting of Daunte Wright by a former police officer in April 2021.
The city council approved a police reform resolution after Wright’s death. That resolution was also named after Kobe Dimock-Heisler, a 21-year-old who was on the autism spectrum and was fatally shot by Brooklyn Center police in 2019.
The resolution called for the development of an unarmed branch of the police department. This branch would respond to non-moving traffic violations and mental health calls-for-service.
See also: Brooklyn Center Vote Down Police Traffic Stop Changes
