Improving Police Co-Response by Building an Integrated Behavioral Health Model

Tuesday, October 21, 2025

8:00 AM - 9:30 AM MT

Location: 405/406, Colorado Convention Center

The Cambridge Police Department has developed an integrated co-response model within its Family and Social Justice Section. This model operates along a continuum—from the clinician and officer responding to the initial call, to case management by social workers, to follow-up in the legal system by specially trained officers. The model aims to reduce arrests and divert individuals with mental health challenges away from the criminal legal system and toward appropriate supports and services. This session will place particular emphasis on the critical role psychologists can play in the development, implementation, and evaluation of co-response programs. It will also offer specific recommendations for how police departments can replicate this model effectively.

Submitter and Speaker(s)

James Barrett

Director of Clinical Support Services
Cambridge (MA) Police Department
Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States

Speaker(s)

Fred Cabral

Cambridge (MA) Police Department
CE

Christine Elow

Cambridge (MA) Police Department