Improving Community Safety: Mental Health Response Through Policing Partnerships | RTI Webinar

Over the past half century, the role of police in the United States expanded, with communities increasingly relying on police officers as the default responders for many of society’s unaddressed problems. A significant portion of 911 calls concern substance use, mental health, and homelessness – issues outside of the training and core function of police officers. As a result, people in urgent need of services too often don’t get the type of help or follow-on aftercare they need.

Join us for a virtual webinar -- Improving Community Safety: Mental Health Response Through Policing Partnerships -- which will feature a panel discussion highlighting the importance of alternative response strategies using the Durham Community Safety Department and the Cohort of Cities Project as examples of data-driven approaches. The panel will feature a law enforcement practitioner, a behavioral health practitioner, and experts from RTI specializing in justice system policies and public health reform. These novel approaches will provide insights into effective policing partnerships and strategies to allocate resources to behavioral health response.