NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Instead of taking people to jail, what if police took people experiencing a mental health crisis to get medical help?
Metro Nashville Police say they've done just that through a successful program that's grown over the past two years.
It's called the Partners in Care program.
On Monday, Metro Police recognizes the program's second anniversary.
The program works through a partnership between the Mental Health Cooperative and Metro Nashville police. Clinicians support officers in five of their eight precincts to help them respond to certain situations. So far, 189 officers, including 52 supervisors, have received an additional 40 hours of crisis response training since June 2021.
153 of those are assigned to patrol.
As of last week, Metro Police say the co-response model has responded to nearly 13,000 calls for service, and less than 4 percent resulted in an arrest. It's a number police say they're proud of.
Metro Police will hold a media update at 1 p.m. to share new details on how they plan to strengthen the program to save more lives.
