Exploring the programmatic landscape: a systematic review of police diversion at arrest

Police-assisted diversion programs in lieu of arrest, or pre-booking, remain understudied. This review catalogs the programmatic details within 47 recent research articles on police diversion programs for adults and examines common themes in promising practices. Four were in the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) model, 15 in the Crisis Intervention Training (CIT) model, two described co-responder models, one a mobile crisis unit (MCU), one a sobering center, and several others. Diversion eligibility was often based on perceived behavioral health needs, and most programs also had criteria related to the potential charge (e.g. only drug-related offenses). Substance abuse and mental health treatment were the most frequently provided services. For practitioners, ingredients for success include: true diversion (in lieu of arrest); effective cross-system collaboration; quick access to services, through multiple doors; adequate program coverage, including geographic area and hours of availability; sufficient diversion options; and law enforcement buy-in and preparation.