By Anna Johnson
The News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.)
RALEIGH, N.C. — In a few months when Raleigh police respond to a person in a mental health crisis, a social worker may head out with a police officer.
And the team will then follow up to connect some of those people with the help they need from nonprofits and community groups.
Raleigh Police Chief Cassandra Deck-Brown described the new, planned police unit during a City Council meeting Tuesday afternoon.
This is an issue all cities are facing, as police handle calls outside traditional law enforcement matters, said City Manager Ruffin Hall. That responsibility will continue whether new programs like Raleigh’s are housed within or outside a police department, he said.
The new unit is called the ACORNS Team, which stands for “addressing crises through outreach, referrals, networking and service.”
The eight-person team will have a supervising sergeant (the materials for Tuesday’s council meeting originally said the unit would have a civilian supervisor), a detective, three social workers and three police officers, said Deck-Brown.
She hopes to hire and train the new team by the end of the year.
[Read: How to build an LE mental health community response model]
Advocate demands
Advocates for criminal justice reform have repeatedly called for the city to move money and resources from the police department to other government or nonprofit organizations. Those demands came into focus for the city and nation after weeks of protests calling for greater police oversight after the death of George Floyd, a Black man in Minneapolis.
Several people criticized the planned unit during the public comments portion of Tuesday’s meeting, saying it’s not what they asked for.
“This entire summer, your community has shown up for public comments in the hundreds to tell you how we want our money spent in community service to our neighbors,” said Stephanie Lormand, a frequent critic of the council. “No one mentioned cops, in fact, we explicitly mentioned no cops.”
“You heard all of that and came back with a solution of — more cops,” she said.
Zainab Baloch, a community activist and former mayoral candidate, said police officers should not respond to any mental health situations because they lack the necessary training.
She mentioned the deaths of Keith Collins and Soheil Mojarrad, two men who were shot and killed by Raleigh police officers. Both families of the men said they faced mental health challenges. The family of Mojarrad sued the city in June.
“Their blood is on your hands,” Baloch said. “And while you refuse to accept accountability from the people, as a reminder, there is still a God you will answer to.”
Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin mentioned the unit last week at a meeting of the governor’s Task Force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice. In that forum, Dawn Blagrove, executive director of Emancipate NC, said she supports shifting police resources to the community but was not in favor of Raleigh’s new unit.
“That is absolutely the wrong direction,” Blagrove, an attorney, said at that meeting. “It is absolutely a reinvestment and further doubling down on policies and programs that do not work. There are dozens of existing homeless and mental health programs with dedicated people trained to do that work, she said.
Council questions
Council member Jonathan Melton said he would like the unit to have more social workers and asked why there are three police officers and three social workers on the team.
Deck-Brown said responding to a mental health crisis can require a police presence for safety-related reasons but also for logistical reasons such as having a police escort when people may be committed.
Council member David Cox pointed to a program in Oregon outside of the local department that handles mental health crises and calls, among other things, and asked what it would take for a similar program to be implemented in Raleigh.
“In my view, this is what the community is asking for,” Cox said. “It’s a program ... that is independently administered and provides first-line response to mental health crises, It works in collaboration with the police department but doesn’t fall under the police department.”
There are two challenges with that type of operation, Hall said.
The first is funding — Raleigh’s new police unit will be funded under the police department’s current budget — and the second is determining when police respond to a call versus the other program, he said.
Also, some programs are in areas where cities have more direct involvement with social services and mental health providers, while in North Carolina that’s mostly left to the counties and state, he said.
The council didn’t need to vote on the new police unit.
“This is a first step, and I look forward to learning more,” Baldwin said.
©2020 The News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.)