NJ attorney general issues new police guidelines for barricade situations

NEW JERSEY (KYW Newsradio) — New Jersey Attorney General Matt Platkin has issued new guidelines for police to improve outcomes of barricade situations.

“It’s a continued recognition that we’ve asked law enforcement to do too much, to be everything all at once,” he said.

Platkin says if there’s no immediate need to intervene when first responders arrive at a barricade situation, officers should wait until a mental health professional arrives to make contact with the person. He noted that sometimes time can diffuse situations.

“When we engage mental health professionals for what are truly mental health crises, we can be more successful at resolving these situations without incident,” he said.

Platkin says the success of the Alternative Responses to Reduce Instances of Violence and Escalation Together initiative, also known as ARRIVE, is proof that this approach works, adding that New Jersey is the first state with these sorts of guidelines in place for barricade situations.

“This is, again, all based on the experience we have now for several years,” he said.

He says officers are also encouraged to use less lethal methods like tasers and bean bag munitions to avoid unnecessary deaths.

These directives will be implemented in October.