13-05-2025
Six months in, Joplin police see success with Co-Responder program
JOPLIN, Mo. — A project to make Joplin safer is starting to show results.
Six months into the Joplin Police Co-Responder Program, the police chief says 'use of force' incidents are down significantly.
'We realized a 23% decrease overall in use of force incidents, and a 73% decrease in use of force incidents as it specifically, specifically relates to mental health crises. So that's attributable almost directly to the co-responder's input. I think that's phenomenal,' said JPD Chief Dr. Richard Pearson.
It's just the kind of results Dr. Richard Pearson was hoping for when they started the program last fall.
'When you can introduce an entity into the mix, co-responders, that helps alleviate some of these problems. You reduce the amount of time that officers have to work with individuals in crisis. You reduce the amount of time that we have to spend the officers have to spend at hospitals. Reduce the amount of time and resources that the hospitals have to use. You reduce the amount of time and resources that the jail and the court system has to use,' said Pearson.
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The Co-Responder Unit focuses on what they call crisis incidents, helping to de-escalate potentially volatile situations and connect those in need to community resources.
But they're now also for working in a larger region to improve law enforcement operations.
'So we've been able to talk to people in the surrounding area, the other co responding units, specifically to Springfield,' said Joe Vera, JPD Co-Responder Team Lead.
Looking at best practices, and how to help start pilot projects in smaller southwest Missouri departments interested in a Co-Responder Unit of their own.
'I think it's changing law enforcement to start thinking outside the box, instead of traditionally just going on seeing and having to either put handcuffs on people, on a person. Now it's being able to bring the resources to the individual versus taking the individual to the resources. So I think that's a trend that's going to be going here in the future,' said Vera.
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