The crisis response team started under the city's reimagined Office of Crisis Intervention Services, which was formed late last year and took away certain responsibilities from the Rochester Police Department.
View Gallery: Person in Crisis team responds to calls in Rochester More: Here's why a Person in Crisis team wasn't sent on Open Door Mission call Addressing disparities Once that ends in June, the program will be reassessed, the city has said. The team is in the middle of a six-month pilot trial. The crisis response team is funded by the $350,000 the city saved by halving its police recruit class last year and a $1 million grant from state's Office of Victim Services. City officials hope that number grows in the future. There are 22 people on the response team, known as PIC, but only four are full-time staff. So it makes a lot more sense for mental health professionals to come out, assess the situation and see what’s the best support for an individual in crisis." "We’re dealing with people that are in crisis. "We aren’t dealing with criminals, so it wouldn’t be appropriate for police to respond to those calls," Johnson said.
Johnson grew up in Rochester's 14621 ZIP code, a northeast neighborhood. An Edison Tech graduate, Johnson worked in the city school district as a social worker before joining the crisis response team.ĭuring the four-hour trip, Johnson and Brean received information about six calls and ultimately responded to two city homes, including one in 14621. "We are the appropriate people to come out to a situation and make that assessment where someone needs to go," said Johnson. The city created the Crisis Intervention Services Unit. Activists and advocates for policing reform demanded the city find a new approach to calls involving people in mental distress, particularly in communities of color. The city announced the restructuring of its mental health-related emergency response after Daniel Prude's death in March 2020 became public months later. It provided an unvarnished look at how mental health professionals in plainclothes are changing the way people in crisis are connected with vital services. The Democrat and Chronicle was given behind-the-scenes access to the team during a recent ride-along. So Brean and Johnson packed snacks and found quiet moments to fuel up when they could. Johnson said he and a partner have handled as many as 14 calls in one eight-hour shift.
The civilian-led crew, launched in January, provides a non-law enforcement aid to mental health and substance abuse crises in the city. Johnson and Brean are emergency response social workers.
While waiting for the OK from police to enter a scene in the Rochester's Maplewood neighborhood, Dré Johnson and Renee Brean, members of the city's new Person in Crisis team, found a spare moment for a snack. Watch Video: Ride along with Rochester's new Person in Crisis team