Officer Stallings:

I can’t speak to the answer to this question on a national level, but I can tell you what we at the Longmont Department of Public Safety are doing. We have a team of Two Officers who are assigned to our “CORE” Unit. The officers work in partnership with a mental health clinician and a paramedic to respond to calls that might have a mental health component. Sometimes these people are actually in crisis and sometimes it has become an ongoing issue and friends and family members simply need help and/or direction, short and long term. We initially paid for the program with Grant funds received during the first phase and it has now become a permanent program that we hope to expand through the years. Longmont Police Department is always looking for more effective ways to respond to calls and offer long-term solutions to our community. Please see Longmont Police CORE for a news story about our CORE Team and how we are addressing mental health in the CIty of Longmont.