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Date: 4/17/2023
PELHAM — Michael Hilliard, retired from the Baltimore Police Department, told Pelham residents that armed police often make a tense confrontation on the street even more dangerous. That’s one reason the Anti-Racism Advisory Committee asked Hilliard to speak at an information session on the community responder model of conflict resolution, an alternative to a police response. The strategy makes sense, Hilliard said, even for small towns.
“There was an officer in Eugene who had…a homeless person [who], if he saw a uniform, he went ballistic. If an officer shows,” Hilliard said, “there’s a chance their mere presence may cause the situation to escalate.”
Hilliard told about 25 residents on April 12 the community response model of public safety has been actively used in Eugene, Oregon for 30 years. Now, half a dozen cities, including Los Angeles, Dayton, Houston, San Francisco and Amherst are adopting the community response model as an adjunct to the current police and emergency response services. Northampton is also in the process of fielding a community response team.
The community response model gained traction after the murder of George Floyd in 2020 by members of the Minneapolis Police Dept. The economics of a community response department, separate from police and fire, wasn’t discussed in detail, but may alleviate the need for hiring more full-time police. Local Police Chief Gary Thomann is excited by how well a department would work in Pelham. Hilliard agreed by pointing out that on most calls an armed police presence is unnecessary.
“If you call 911 the police get called,” Hilliard said. “That means…we are responding to barking dogs, loud music, conflicts between neighbors and juvenile issues, where parents are having a hard time controlling their child.” The best responders to those types of service calls are “what we call credible messengers, people within the community who are respected and have training in this dispute resolution.”
The second speaker on the Zoom meeting was Earl Miller, director of Amherst’s new department, Community Responders for Equity Safety and Service, the first community response department in New England. Miller’s department opened Sept. 6 and since then responded to 5,780 calls, almost 830 calls per month. The calls do not resemble a police response. Responders do not carry guns or wear traditional uniforms.
Miller said the core training features nine weeks of education in motivational interviewing and other de-escalation skills. His department has eight responders who mediate disputes and deliver meals.
“We couldn’t find people to deliver meals and I had eight people sitting around looking for something to do,” Miller said. “It helps us build relationships. If we drop off a meal on Friday and we come back on Monday and the meal isn’t gone, it tells us there’s something going on.”
Responders receive training in unlearning racism, the biology of fear and safety, building trust and healing harms, identity and anti-bias, alternatives to suicide and the Hearing Voices Network, a group supporting those who hear things that other people do not. Miller’s responders have answered calls from seniors suffering dementia, who grow upset when they forget a wife or husband has passed away.
According to Miller, 33% of all calls to 911 come from senior citizens. That helps clarify how a community response department could reduce police responses by as much as 25 percent. Hilliard agreed.
“When we do call analysis throughout the country, you’re looking at a diversion from 15% to 25% of the calls…What you’re doing is probably freeing 15% to 25% of [police] time up, so they can start being proactive to identify problems in the area,” Hilliard said.
CRESS and police interact freely in Amherst. Miller described a service call for a public intoxication. The person was transported to where they wanted to go. On another occasion two men were in a conflict on the street. CRESS staff showed up, diffused the conflict and walked one of the men home to their front door.
Local Patrolman Robert “Chip” Thrasher suggested the community response model hearkens back to how the town’s police force operated in decades past.
“We never had to be afraid of the cops here,” Thrasher said. “What Earl does, to be honest, is what we were supposed to do.”
The informational session concluded with questions from residents, with several voicing approval for the community response option. Christopher Hockman advocated for a role for a department in local schools. His family experienced a bad outcome after one of his children suffered an assault.
“School shootings are from bad outcomes at school,” Hockman said. “I hope CRESS will find ways into a school system…That vulnerable population is one I’m worried about.”
Thomann acknowledged a new department would require an investment by the town. The chief of police also hopes to see a community response department in Pelham as he contemplates retirement.
“I’m very excited by this. It will be a financial commitment by the town, but I hope they go with it,” Thomann said. “My tenure is coming to an end, but I am going to push for something like this because this is a wonderful program.”