New policy will change how New Jersey police respond to some mental health calls

TRENTON, N.J. – The New Jersey state attorney general is changing the state’s use-of-force policy after two fatal police shootings of people experiencing mental health crises.

Attorney General Matthew Platkin says this is the first statewide policy of its kind and will require all police departments in New Jersey to coordinate with mental health professionals when they’re responding to a call for a barricaded person, a situation he says overwhelmingly involves people experiencing an emotional crisis and is the most likely call to end in an injury.

The policy will also require all New Jersey police departments to train their tactical teams in crisis negotiation and deploy them with what Platkin calls “less lethal force,” such as tasers and shields.

The state will also expand its “Arrive Together” program, which pairs police with mental health professionals to all departments for when they respond the type of barricaded calls involving someone having a mental health crisis.

Platkin said the changes will take effect as early as October.

Policy change comes following deadly shootings of Andrew Washington, Victoria Lee

In 2023, Jersey City Police officers shot and killed Andrew Washington, and just last month, Fort Lee Police shot and killed Victoria Lee. Both Washington and Lee had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and their families told 911 they were in the midst of a mental crisis.

Neither the Jersey City nor the Fort Lee police departments were enrolled in the Arrive Together program prior to those shootings.

“Do you think if those departments were already involved in the Arrive Together program that Victoria Lee, Andrew Washington might be alive today?” CBS News New York’s Ali Bauman asked Platkin.

“I can’t comment on those cases. But what I can say, learning from our experience overseeing fatal police encounters … We know that when you take a clinical and more enlightened approach, when you don’t ask law enforcement to do everything … We can save lives. We can produce better outcomes. We can produce environments that are safer for the individual who’s suffering and safer for the officers responding,” Platkin said.

Washington’s family has filed a lawsuit against the Jersey City Police Department.

Family of Victoria Lee calls for accountability for deadly shooting

Lee’s family released a new statement Thursday, calling for accountability for the July 28 shooting.