Lincoln’s innovative Co-Responder Program is earning national attention for its work helping people experiencing behavioral health crises. Lincoln Police Investigator Doug Headlee and CenterPointe’s Amber Dirks recently represented the program at the 7th Annual National Co-Responder Conference in Dallas.
The pair presented a session titled “Badges, Boundaries, and Buy-In: Making Co-Response Work from the Start,” sharing lessons learned from building Lincoln’s successful partnership between law enforcement and mental health professionals.
Headlee will also be featured in a new national training video called “Crisis Intervention First Look: Co-Responder Teams.” The project is being developed by the National Center for Policing Innovation with funding from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, or COPS Office.
The training video will showcase best practices for creating and operating co-responder programs designed to assist people facing behavioral health emergencies. Lincoln Police say the Co-Responder Unit has grown into a model program in just 16 months, drawing interest from agencies across the country looking to develop similar partnerships.
Officials say the collaboration between LPD and CenterPointe continues to make a positive impact both in Lincoln and nationwide. The Co-Responder Program allows mental health professionals to respond jointly with LPD officers during calls for service involving people experiencing mental health crises.
Since the program began a year ago the Co-Responder Unit has responded to hundreds of calls for service.