you can add Paterson to the growing list of cities around the state Now using the arve together program where certain 911 calls involving mental health issues are handled by police and mental health experts the move announced today by the state attorney general comes nine months after the Fatal police shooting of Paterson violence intervention worker nji SE Brooks a more recent State takeover of the troubled police department and years of Cries From residents for a new approach to the crises Melissa Rose Cooper reports the family wants to call the police but then they're afraid what happens if let's say the person I don't know reaches for a broom or anything and then the officer say well you know I felt threatened so they just are firing off on the person that's a very scary and real scenario concerns Community activist Cory teag says many residents here in Patterson share when it comes to how Mental Health crisis calls are handled in the city earlier this year a family's call for help ended in the death of Naji seab Brooks following a standoff with police [ ó_ó_ ] C Brooks was out here trying to bridge the gap between the police and the community so when they saw that the police took him out it really sent shock waves through the community fatigue is hopeful a new initiative in the city will begin to turn things around State Attorney General Matt plen announcing the expansion of the arriv together program that will handle mental health and emotional distress calls we started in Cumberland County we then expanded to Municipal departments in Union County and uh it is going tremendously well we've now seen approximately 2,000 people helped by this program and again remember these are the incidents and the calls and the interactions that are most likely to result in a bad outcome whether that be an injury or an arrest and we've seen none of that no injuries to officers no injuries to civilians uh better mental health treatment for individuals who need it and importantly we're building trust with communities as we're doing this the program is designed to cater to the needs of each specific community in some places arrive is a co-responder model where law enforcement and mental health professionals are arriving at the scene together in other cases like in Patterson it's a mental health L solution so when an individual uh encounters law enforcement in Patterson a referral can be made to cbh care now and the response will just be from the mental health professionals there won't be a law enforcement component to it arrive together comes months after the Attorney General's takeover of the Patterson Police Department but mayor Andre seya says the city is continuing to work on its own program known as connect and protect which received a Federal grant SE says the initiative was in the works long before the Takeover because it was two years ago where I made this announcement that we recognize that police officers aren't always trained to deal with people who are emotionally disturbed so that's why I looked at a best practice which Bill brenon had implemented in Los anges invited him to Patterson and made that announcement to let people know that we're really serious about a co-response that it just can't fall on the shoulders of police officers you have to have the Professionals in the room that are trained so mental health conditions will be on the scene along with police officers in Patterson the mayor says the program is still in the planning stages and is expected to launch sometime next summer this word yet how this will work with arve together but the Attorney General says he's open to a conversation meanwhile Teague maintains it's a good first step if the community sees that the police are trying the police department is really doing what they need to do in this particular regard and they have the mental health professionals and they're doing what they need to do then we as a community have to kind of meet them halfway and let's see if we can do this together so that we can kind of turn the table you know turn the chapter arrive together is expected to operate in all 21 counties of the states by the end of the year for NJ Spotlight news I'm Melissa Rose [Music] Cooper