CRESS director placed on leave amid investigation

Date: 8/29/2023

AMHERST — The director of the town’s Community Responders for Equity, Safety and Service was placed on administrative leave, according to a statement issued on Aug. 18 by town officials.

Earl Miller, has headed CRESS, the town’s civilian staffed community responder program since March of 2022. Miller, who is the program’s first director, “has been placed on paid administrative leave pending an internal investigation into the operation of the CRESS program,” the statement read.

The nature of the investigation has not been made public and when the administrative leave began was not indicated.

The CRESS program itself will not be impacted by Miller’s absence, according to the statement.
“This action should not affect the operation of the CRESS program whose members are eager to fulfill their responsibility to the community and the residents that they serve. Town Manager Paul Bockelman has met with the members of the CRESS department and has full confidence in the program and its members.” the statement continued.

CRESS began operating as a department in September of 2022, its staff is trained to respond to and handle non-emergency, non-violent calls as well as mental health and social issues generally dispatched to sworn police officers.

In December of 2022, the department was selected as “one of eight teams selected from across the United States and Canada by the Council of State Governments Justice Center, in collaboration with the Center for Policing Equity, to participate in a virtual learning community focused on enhancing crisis system alternatives through public health and community-centered approaches,” the town reported at the time.

Before joining CRESS, Miller worked in peer support and was the director of recovery for the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health.

“This leave will continue until the completion of the investigation, which is being done by an independent outside investigator,” the town statement indicated.