Partnerships for Progress: Enhancing Crisis Response in Law Enforcement

Monday, October 16, 2023

2:00 PM – 3:00 PM PST

Location: Room: 6D

Submitter and Speaker(s)

Jeremy Kommel-Bernstein

Policy Analyst
U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS)
Washington, District of Columbia, United States

Speaker(s)

Vonda Matthews, LCPC

Policy Analyst
U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS)
Washington, District of Columbia, United States
Nicole Pruss

Social Science Analyst
U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS)
Washington, District of Columbia, United States
Robert McKeirnan

Sergeant
City of Olathe, Kansas
Olathe, Kansas, United States
Jessica Murphy

County Co-Responder Program
Johnson County, Kansas
Olathe, Kansas, United States
Patrick Hanby

Sergeant
Fayetteville Police Department, Arkansas
Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States
Ryan Marcks

Captain
Rapid City Fire Department, South Dakota
Rapid City, South Dakota, United States
Scott Sitts

Assistant Chief
Rapid City Police Department, South Dakota
Rapid City, South Dakota, United States

Crisis response has become a hot-button topic for law enforcement in recent years as communities have demanded more effective options for working with people experiencing mental health emergencies. COPS Office staff, grantees, and partners in mental health and co-response will discuss how grants are helping agencies pursue and enhance new avenues for response, including vital partnerships with outside organizations. The panel will highlight recent successes grantee agencies have experienced and how this funding and access to a grantee community of practice have enabled them to confront challenges in crisis response. Future grant, technical assistance, and training related to crisis intervention will also be featured, including evolutions in the program spurred by existing grantee requests.