Examining Proactive and Responsive Outcomes of a Dedicated Co-Responder Team

Abstract The Boston Police Department (BPD) has adopted a Co-Responder approach to enhance their response to people with mental illnesses residing in the City of Boston. Because of resource constraints, the BPD does not have a dedicated car to respond to mental health-related calls. This means that while Co-Responding teams can call off on or be dispatched to calls known or suspected to have a mental health component based on nature code or a commonly visited address, they must also respond to more typical calls for service. Using grant funding, the BPD implemented a 1-month dedicated Co-Responder car pilot programme and collected data about all related encounters. Using these data, we explore the outcomes resulting from this evaluation. First, we discuss the development and implementation of the Co-Response model and dedicated car pilot in Boston. Secondly, we examine how the Co-Responder team spent its time during the dedicated car pilot programme and describe the outcomes of encounters with community members, with a focus on involuntary evaluations and commitments as well as the factors that predicted these particular outcomes. Results indicate that much of the Co-Response work is proactive and that formal dispositions, such as involuntary commitment and evaluation, are used sparingly. Finally, policy and practice implications are discussed.