DANVILLE — The Danville Police Department will soon have an embedded crisis worker.
A partnership with the City of Danville, Crosspoint Human Services, and the Danville Police Department is leading to a new position to ‘pause the gap,’ said Chief Christopher Yates.
“This is something that we had considered and talked about the needs that we have for the police department, as well as serving the community in areas of law enforcement,” Yates said. “We’re saying that often law enforcement handles different situations that are beyond the criminal element. There may be a criminal element involved, however, that is the result rather than sometimes the cause.”
Yates said the partnership was formed to help bridge a gap where mental health referrals may be more helpful than a jail cell.
“The biggest problem that we have is that pause in between potential time for intervention and other needs, and getting someone who’s there able to talk to a person,” Yates said when they checked the local resources.
Crosspoint Human Services was high up there because they already have an “excellent” partnership. Yates said the position will cover the hours that are most needed.
“We’re looking at peak hours. It’s not something that’s first shift only, but peak hours, and then how can we move forward once we work out the little incidental tweaks that need to be worked out,” he added
Tuesday’s meeting was the next step in getting an embedded crisis worker on their team. The funding for the worker will be covered by Crosspoint Human Services.
The vote to approve the agreement was unanimous.