ARRIVE Together teams have defused domestic arguments, helped people to access mental health services and arranged for follow-up care.

New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin founded ARRIVE Together in December 2021. Its main objective is to avoid violent outcomes when someone experiences an emotional crisis by pairing a plainclothes officer with a mental health expert. So far, ARRIVE teams have logged 1,300 cases in ten counties. In Middlesex County, they’ve handled 58 responses without an arrest or an injury.

Platkin was part of a special panel Thursday that gathered to assess how the program has worked since it went into operation in Middlesex County last May.

“I love going out into the community, because you’re able to help people when they’re at their lowest point,” said Beth Rodriguez, a mental health screener with Middlesex County’s ARRIVE Together team.

Calls differ significantly from regular policing, said Det. Brian O’Mara of Highland Park. “These calls are not 20 minutes, in and out, like we’re used to in police work.”

Officers on ARRIVE teams expressed some surprise at how long the calls can take. And that presents a hurdle for the smaller departments who would like to join the program but just don’t have the staff.

“It’s really, ‘do we have enough officers so we have the right type of screeners that will go out for it? … Most of the towns are clamoring for it,” said Middlesex County Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone.

Advocacy groups point to police shootings that involved people in crisis. They appreciate the ARRIVE program but want a community-oriented response that doesn’t involve police. expanding.

“These are the most difficult calls that law enforcement has to respond to. And so nobody’s spiking footballs or saying, ‘Mission accomplished,’ Platkin said. “But what we are doing is saying, this alternative response is working. And we want more people to come on board.”

Platkin said ARRIVE Together will be operational in all 21 New Jersey counties by December.