The Status of Co-responders in Law Enforcement: Findings from a National Survey of Law Enforcement Agencies

• In Event: Policing and Behavioral Health Issues

Abstract

In response to calls for police reform, one area that has received substantial interest is alternative
responses to mental health crisis calls. Jurisdictions across the United States are adopting co-
responder teams that bring qualified mental or behavioral health professionals into emergency
responses by police. We report on a first national survey investigating the prevalence,
characteristics, and operation of law enforcement adoption of co-responder teams. The current
study aims to estimate how widespread the use of these teams are in the U.S., their varieties, and
features with a sample of over 500 law enforcement agencies. While adoption of co-responder
programs in law enforcement is occurring across the country, we find that there is a lack of a
consistent programmatic model that can guide future development of co-responder programs.
Additionally, agencies face challenges to implement and maintain program operation such as
personnel and funding concerns. For guidelines and protocols to develop to assist law
enforcement, there is a need for a clear representation of the variation in programs and push for
agencies to evaluate the effectiveness of different program elements.

Authors

• Clair Uding, University of Wyoming

• Cynthia Lum, George Mason University

• Haley Moon, University of Wyoming