ARRIVE Together Program to Expand by Embedding Mental Health Providers with Tactical and Crisis Negotiation Teams

Attorney General Directive No. 2024-04 | Addendum Revising Statewide Use of Force Policy

TRENTON — Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin today announced changes to the Use of Force policy for New Jersey law enforcement, revisions that are designed to increase the likelihood of peaceful resolutions to encounters between police and barricaded individuals, who are frequently in a behavioral or mental health crisis.

The new Use of Force Policy addition is intended to ensure tactical and crisis-negotiation teams responding to such incidents are optimally trained and have essential resources and equipment.

“Encounters involving barricaded individuals are often difficult and high risk, regularly involving individuals in the midst of crisis who are armed,” said Attorney General Platkin. “This policy represents the first statewide policy of its kind in the country, and is the result of an intensive process that involved law enforcement leaders, mental health professionals, violence intervention experts, and community stakeholders. Our goal is to provide first-responders with the tools to slow and stabilize these standoffs, empowering officers to navigate the dangerous first minutes of these encounters, so proper resources can be deployed to intervene and resolve the situations safely without force, significant injuries, or death.”

“Barricaded individuals present law enforcement officers with difficult challenges that can threaten the safety of the individuals, officers, and third parties,” said Drew Skinner, Executive Director of OPIA. “The amended policy and additional ARRIVE Together resources will give law enforcement the best opportunity to resolve these incidents safely for all involved.”

The revisions were drafted in consultation with law enforcement, mental health professionals, community stakeholders, and faith leaders. The changes being implemented include the following:

• Tactical and crisis negotiation teams will now be required to identify qualified mental health professionals who will be available to respond to incidents involving a barricaded individual or hostage situation. The mental health provider can assist with negotiations by offering guidance and information to law enforcement or by communicating directly with the barricaded individual. Agencies operating critical response teams will be entering into agreements with mental health professionals and will conduct regular training drills with them, at least quarterly.
• First-responding officers facing a barricaded situation are advised to wait for appropriate resources to respond and not attempt to force a resolution, unless that would be immediately necessary to prevent injury or death. When feasible, and when no immediate threat is present, officers should establish a perimeter and communication with the barricaded individual to assess their status, including determining whether the subject is wanted for a crime or may be in crisis.
• In certain situations, law enforcement may now consider tactical disengagement as a possible method of reaching a resolution, particularly when continued contact may result in an unreasonable risk. Tactical disengagement involves a decision to leave, delay contact, delay custody or planning to make contact at a different time and under different circumstances. The policy now directs law enforcement to consider whether community-based groups such as community crisis response teams, or mental health providers through the ARRIVE (Alternative Responses to Reduce Instances of Violence and Escalation) Together program, can be active components of a disengagement strategy.
• Law enforcement agencies will adopt policies mandating an immediate response by an on-duty supervisor to barricaded situations. That supervisor will establish incident command in order to begin determining what resources are needed and to start the process of summoning those resources, including a tactical team. Additionally, the tactical team notified must be a tier 1 or tier 2 SWAT team. Each county prosecutor is being tasked with evaluating the tactical teams in their jurisdictions to determine which, if any, meet those standards as established by the National Tactical Officers Association (NTOA). According to the NTOA, tier 1 and tier 2 teams have more personnel and greater capabilities when it comes to rescuing hostages and dealing with barricaded subjects.
• Tactical teams must now be equipped with less lethal weapons, such as conducted energy devices (Tasers) and impact munitions, which are often effective in resolving incidents without the use of deadly force. Those teams will also be equipped with devices to enable the teams to maximize communication and intelligence gathering capabilities.

The Attorney General also announced that, utilizing part of the recent budget allocation by the state legislature and Governor Murphy for expanding the ARRIVE Together program – which last year became the first and only statewide program for alternative responses to behavioral health crises in the country – the Office of Alternative and Community Responses (OACR) will make funds available to support the implementation of the addendum and provide critical incident tactical and negotiation teams with experienced mental health professionals, available around-the-clock to assist and, when safe and appropriate, respond to situations involving barricaded individuals. Those mental health professionals will train with law enforcement, building relationships and sharing knowledge. The grant funds will be available to agencies in all counties.

“Law enforcement officers are often expected to be mental and behavioral health experts at times when actual experts are what is needed,” said Tiffany Wilson, Director of OACR. “With these updates and the funding of this newest ARRIVE Together model we are arming the officers tasked with addressing the most delicate and high-risk situations with much needed tools and resources, namely a blueprint and a mental health expert.”

Certain policy changes spelled out in the addendum – including how first-responding officers should approach barricaded individuals, the mandatory supervisory response, use of the incident command system, as well as the requirement that a tier 2 SWAT team and accompanying crisis negotiation team respond to situations involving barricaded individuals – will become effective in October 2024. Other provisions will be taking effect at a later date to allow time to ensure adequate staffing and resource availability.

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