Across the country, millions of individuals come into contact with the criminal justice system because they struggle with mental illness and substance use disorders. Many of these individuals repeatedly cycle through our jails, often because they are never provided with services that can address their underlying problems. Because we fail to safely address significant, underlying drivers of crime, we pay an enormous cost – both human and financial.
Until now, we have not given the police – or other first responders – the tools they need to identify individuals who suffer from mental illness and substance use disorders in the field. Today's criminal justice system puts enormous pressure on police officers to follow the traditional law enforcement path of either arresting an individual when a charge can be brought, or telling them to move along. When an officer deviates from that model, they rely on their subjective judgment for decision-making and assume personal and professional risk in doing so.
Our research revealed that almost half of the arrestees in our pilot jurisdictions (48%) could be diverted from the criminal justice system because of behavioral health issues, highlighting the tremendous impact this tool can have on our justice system.
