Recalibrating Police Responses to Vulnerable Individuals: The Next Generation of Co-Response

• In Event: Project SCOPE: Philadelphia's New Model of Police Co-Response

Abstract

In recent years, many U.S. police departments, as well as some internationally, have adopted co-response deployments that embed social outreach teams with police patrols to reduce arrests, use of force, and general justice involvement of vulnerable population members. Several evaluations have shown co-response to be successful at addressing the needs of vulnerable individuals while also reducing arrest, use of force, and even deadly force. This paper examines a new co-response model that has been implemented in the transit system of Philadelphia. Project SCOPE deploys outreach workers in subway stations to engage with members of vulnerable populations (e.g., people experiencing addiction, homelessness, and/or mental health crises) independently of police officers unless officers are needed. SCOPE takes police out of most initial contacts with vulnerable people in subway stations to give outreach workers the opportunity to build relationships with vulnerable individuals in efforts to provide services. This study reports on the policing impacts of Project SCOPE during the full implementation period (90-plus weeks) and compares the results to those produced during the pilot phase (the initial 27 weeks) of the study to observe any potential temporal changes in SCOPE treatment and outcomes.

Authors

• Robert Kane, Drexel University

• Jordan Hyatt, Drexel University

• Matthew Teti, Drexel University