Mental health experts say having counselors at crisis calls can help police safely end incidents

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It was exactly a week ago that officials released police body-camera video showing the death of 25-year-old Victoria Lee. The Fort Lee woman was believed to be holding a knife when she was shot and killed by Fort Lee police officers on July 28 while experiencing a mental health crisis at her apartment complex. In response to that death, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin is changing policy when it comes to police officers using force - specifically when dealing with those in crisis. That policy change mandates that a mental health counselor is responding to those calls for help. Also, police officers who find themselves in those tense moments are being ordered to not force a resolution. Nicole Crowley is one of those mental health counselors being used by police in Somerset County. She's a mobile crisis responder with Bridgeway Behavioral Health. RELATED: Mental health professionals now required at all barricaded subject incidents, AG says “So we are actually stationing the screeners in the police departments,” Crowley says. Their program is in conjunction with the state attorney general’s program called Arrive Together. It is one that is bridging the gap between mental health and law enforcement. Crowley and staffers are now working with police in Manville, Branchburg, Montgomery and Hillsborough. She’s already been helping to de-escalate standoffs involving those in a mental health crisis in Franklin and North Plainfield. Crowley says police have bought in and that it’s working to help people in need. “Once the trust was there, they kind of welcomed me on a lot more calls than they would’ve before,” she says. Her organization is also teaching police to get rid of some old habits, such as dropping off mental health patients at hospitals. "On top of the de-escalation, we have really high numbers of diverting from the emergency room. We've really put a lot of energy into teaching law enforcement that can often be more traumatizing,” Crowley says. Platkin says bringing on mental health professionals is necessary to save lives and protect police officers. “We’ve seen too many times where someone in a mental health crisis, we don’t respond to it in an appropriate manner,” Platkin says. Platkin says the Arrive Together program is spreading throughout the state and has saved thousands of lives. "