Two companion programs aimed at keeping low-level offenders struggling with drug abuse and mental health problems out of prison earned the backing of the Longmont City Council this week for charting new paths in law enforcement.
Council members approved a grant agreement with the city and the Colorado Department of Human Services Office of Behavioral Health to continue funding for both the LEAD (Public Safety Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion) program and CORE (Public Safety Crisis, Outreach, Response, And Engagement Team.
Both efforts emphasize police officers working with mental health professionals to help largely non-violent and troubled offenders overcome problems with homelessness and substance abuse, Dan Eamon, Longmont’s assistant public safety chief, told the council.
Under the two programs, “most of the police officers’s work is done afterwards,” Eamon said. “The key here is to build relationships. We don’t just stop at the crisis.”
The LEAD program allows police officers the discretion to divert people into intensive community-based services who otherwise would be arrested and sent to jail, according to a staff report to the council. The goal is to decrease pressure on the criminal justice system while helping improve the quality of life for people fighting substance abuse and mental illness, the report states.
LEAD — which began as a pilot program in 2018 — is paying off in keeping non-violent offenders out of prison and jail, Longmont Deputy Police Chief Jeff Satur told the Leader in 2020.
Of the 133 LEAD participants evaluated as part of a city review of the program, there was a 59% reduction in the number of illegal incidents after the first contact with LEAD case managers.
There was a 50% reduction in the arrest rate after the first contact with LEAD, 33% were not arrested again and 32% did not receive another summons after the first contact, according to a city report on the program.
The city also says there was a 25% reduction in trips to the emergency room, especially for those who received peer counseling.
The success of LEAD depends on Longmont Police Officers knowing when a person needs help as opposed to being locked up, Eamon said. “We trust our police officers to know what to do,” Eamon said.
The CORE team is made up of a police officer, paramedic and mental health clinician who respond to a scene to assess whether an individual needs diversion to a mental health care facility, the city report states.
The CORE team prevents “unnecessary legal system involvement, incarceration and/or hospitalization of individuals with behavioral health needs,” the report states.
Both programs stress a team approach to situations and make contact with police less confrontational, said City Manager Harold Dominguez.
“...As officers pull back and clinicians move forward, it changes the whole dynamic of the whole interaction,” Dominiguez said.
