HARRISBURG, Pa. — It’s not the typical police encounter chronicled in news stories: an emergency call for a woman threatening to kill herself with a loaded handgun ended not in handcuffs, but a tight embrace.
Bodycam footage shows the successful de-escalation of the potentially dangerous situation by Harrisburg City police. After police talk to the woman for several minutes, she drops the gun she was holding and accepts a tight hug from an officer. The woman sobs for several minutes as police try to calm her.
Harrisburg Police credit a Dauphin County program for training its officers in crisis intervention, mental health, cultural awareness and de-escalation tactics.
The county’s Stepping Up initiative encompasses several prongs, in an effort to “help the person, engage them in treatment services to try to reduce arrest rates,” according to Ashley Yinger, criminal justice program administrator for the Dauphin County District Attorney’s office.
The Criminal Justice Advisory Board (CJAB) developed one prong of the initiative involving co-responders, who are social workers embedded with police departments to do ride-alongs and assist with behavioral health calls.
The state Department of Human Services awarded a total of $180,548 for fiscal year 2019 through 2021 for two co-responder positions.
Additional funding has allowed the county to retain seven co-responders across six police departments.
The Harrisburg Bureau of Police said they have three co-responders to cover all three daily shifts.
Co-responders said they can bring a trained perspective on mental health to help diffuse tense situations.
“[They] help talk to the person, deescalate them from that spot, and then get them to an appropriate level of treatment,” said Liz Manning, a co-responder with Harrisburg Bureau of Police.
Co-responders also help provide training for crisis situations, another prong of the Stepping Up initiative.
Since 2019, 141 Dauphin County officers have gone through the week-long training, including 49 Harrisburg City officers. The last major training was held in April, with the next scheduled for September.
“We don't want to go out there and hurt people. We want to recognize what the issue is and get them the help they deserve,” said Harrisburg Deputy Chief Dennis Sorensen.
The training is essential, police said, because it’s easy to mistake certain situations for criminal activity.
“There are cases we go out there for a burglary and we find out that it is not that, it is someone who has a crisis,” Sorensen said. “We go in there and we see what’s going on with a person, why they’re acting that way, find out if its criminal in nature.”
Co-responders said the key to getting to the root of a problem is not rushing to conclusions.
“Listening to the person, taking that time to let the person process it, too,” Manning said.
That act of listening helped everyone in this situation get home safely. Police hope it can serve as a model for future interactions.