The Boston Police Department has several programs and initiatives aimed at providing person-centered mental health responses to individuals who live and work in the City of Boston. These programs are made possible through invaluable collaborations and partnerships.
Here are some of the programs and initiatives the Boston Police has implemented to ensure the best possible outcome for individuals suffering from a mental health crisis. For more information about any of these programs, you can send an email to: mentalhealth@pd.boston.gov. (Please note, this email is NOT monitored 24/7.)
IN CASE OF EMERGENCY - PLEASE CALL 911.
Co-Response
Since 2011, the Boston Police Department has partnered with Boston Medical Center’s Boston Emergency Services Team (BEST) to implement its Co-Response Model. Through this model, Master’s-level BEST clinicians ride along with BPD officers to respond to mental health crises, connecting individuals to resources and ensuring stability. The program increases the safety of everyone involved by emphasizing de-escalation, assessment, and diversion from arrest when appropriate. The BPD currently has permanent operating budget funding to support 12 co-response clinicians, as well as clinical supervision. BPD Officers who have undergone 40 hours of mental health Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training on how to recognize and de-escalate mental health issues and connect Boston community members to appropriate services are also involved in our co-response. In 2023 alone, co-responders were involved in 4,230 encounters, including 2,752 responses to 911 calls and 1,871 follow-ups.
Recovery Coach / Substance Use Liaison
Since January 2022, the Boston Police has utilized MA Department of Mental Health grant funding to maintain a full-time Recovery Coach/Substance Use Liaison—someone who has “lived experience” with behavioral health issues as well as professional training on supporting individuals on their recovery journey. This individual, hired through BMC’s Boston Emergency Services Team, is heavily involved with the City’s various Hub Tables. At these Tables, the Recovery Coach/Substance Use Liaison is able to assist with cases that involve substance use, actively providing assistance as part of a team seeking to provide immediate intervention where possible. Additionally the Recovery Coach/Substance Use Liaison receives referrals from Co-Response Clinicians and BPD Officers throughout the city so that they can provide follow-up to previous 911 or 311 calls as needed, either over the phone or in person. They often engage in community outreach with Officers to high-need areas of the city in an effort to engage individuals struggling with active Substance Use Disorder. Their work often extends to family members, providing support and helping them navigate resources. They also act as a bridge to the Hub Tables, identifying and referring those individuals they have encountered out in the community who may be appropriate Hub cases. Moving forward, the BPD is looking into acquiring additional DMH funding so that a second Recovery Coach/Substance Use Liaison can be hired.
Hub Tables
The Boston Police Department currently participates in five Hub Tables throughout the City of Boston—in East Boston, Roxbury, Dorchester, Jamaica Plain (which also covers Hyde Park and Roslindale/West Roxbury), and the area known as Mass & Cass. The Hub Tables seek to connect individuals and families deemed to be at an acutely elevated risk of harm to self or others, with service providers equipped with the resources to mitigate that risk. Their goal is to reduce and prevent incidents that involve high-risk individuals and families, which in turn reduces repeat calls for service. The model is a new way of utilizing resources that are already in place in different and unified ways to address these specific situations before there is an incident requiring a 911 call. During Hub meetings, BPD and service providers meet confidentially to present “situations” involving community members whose needs are beyond what the police can address on their own. This work fosters multi-agency communication and collaboration in order to intervene with an individual or family that is highly at risk, in order to act immediately to mitigate that risk. The Hubs utilize a Four Filter Process that allows for information sharing while also protecting an individual’s privacy. Each Hub Table involves a multidisciplinary team of first responders, service providers and community partners who are ready and able to work together to ensure families and individuals are safe, healthy, and have the opportunity to thrive.
If you know of someone you think would benefit from a Hub Table intervention, please click on your neighborhood/District and find the contact for your local District “Community Service Office”.
Street Outreach Unit (SOU)
The mission of the BPD Street Outreach Unit (SOU), which was formed in 2019, is to promote community-based support for citizens affected by mental illness, substance use disorder, and homelessness in a professional, humane and supportive manner. The officers of this specialized citywide unit have extensive training and knowledge related to mental health, substance use, and homelessness. The officers’ responsibilities include: overseeing the BPD’s co-response program with BMC’s Boston Emergency Services Team (BEST); running Boston’s Crisis Intervention Team Training and Technical Assistance Center (CIT-TTAC), which provides 40-hour mental health training to BPD officers; performing intake and assessments for all external Section 12 orders (involuntary psychiatric evaluations) received by the Boston Police to help ensure the safest possible outcome for the individual, the public and the officers involved; serving Section 35’s for individuals in the community who cannot care for themselves due to substance use; collaborating with multiple agencies to locate individuals who have housing and treatment opportunities; working closely with families who are looking for loved ones who are on the street; enforcing the City’s no-camping ordinance in a humane way with a services-based approach; referring people to housing opportunities; working with businesses and residents of the City to help strategize how to help vulnerable community members who frequent their properties; working to provide those who are experiencing homelessness with clothes, food and other basic needs for survival; and working with shelters and other non-profits to provide wraparound services for those coming out of detox or incarceration.
Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) Training for Officers
With MA Department of Mental Health support, the SOU has provided 40-hour training to hundreds of BPD officers on how to recognize and de-escalate mental health issues and connect Boston community members to appropriate services. Boston’s Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) Training and Technical Assistance Center (TTAC), run by the BPD’s Street Outreach Unit, serves the entire City of Boston by increasing mental health training opportunities for BPD officers, as well as other officers (e.g., hospital security, university officers, etc.) and first responders (e.g., Boston EMS) who work in the City. Officially launched in May of 2022, the TTAC provides at least five trainings per year, each of which can be attended by 25-30 BPD officers and other local first responders. The 40-hour training includes sessions on Mood and Anxiety Disorders, Psychosis, Suicide Prevention, Homelessness, Personality Disorders, Intellectual Disabilities, Autism, Psychiatric Medications, Substance Use Disorders, Youth Mental Health, Domestic Violence/Human Trafficking, Veterans, Hoarding, Verbal and Non-Verbal De-Escalation, and Officer Wellness. The vast majority of the sessions are co-taught by officers and mental health professionals, including staff from BEST, MA Department of Mental Health, Massachusetts General Hospital, and MA Department of Developmental Services. Mental Health First Aid and CIT for other professions, such as 911 dispatch, may additionally be conducted.
Section 12(a) (involuntary psychiatric evaluations)
Sometimes, when a service provider has deemed that an individual is at risk of harming themselves or others due to mental illness, they issue an order for an involuntary psychiatric evaluation (Section 12(a)). These orders are often sent to the Boston Police for execution—i.e., for assistance with locating the individual in question and helping (often in collaboration with Boston EMS) to get them to the hospital, where they will receive the psychiatric evaluation. In these instances, the BPD prioritizes de-escalation and mitigating safety concerns with the ultimate goal of getting the individual to the hospital for evaluation. We've created this Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document to assist service providers by clarifying what happens when they submit Section 12(a)'s to the BPD.
SafetyNet Tracking
SafetyNet Tracking offers Radio Frequency-based tracking bracelets and a Search and Rescue system that allows for quick, efficient location of individuals who have wandered due to dementia or developmental disabilities. Their successful track record boasts a remarkable 100% success rate in locating missing individuals. For over 10 years, the Boston Police Department has utilized operating budget and Bureau of Justice Assistance grant funding to support permanent SafetyNet provision to Boston residents who may need support affording the program. If interested, please contact the SafetyNet Customer Service Center at (877) 434-6384.
YouthConnect
YouthConnect, a program of Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston (BGCB), has 28 years of experience placing Master’s-level clinical social workers in Boston Police districts, prioritizing those with higher crime rates. Their dedicated social workers currently serve in six Boston Police districts and in three city-wide units, offering violence prevention, intervention, advocacy, and mental health services to young people in the criminal justice system and their families. Research shows that family support reduces behavior that puts youth at risk. Beginning in FY 2024, the Boston Police is investing permanent operating budget funds in the hiring and retention of more YouthConnect clinicians.