December 22, 2015 PATERSON — A woman who was threatening to jump from an overpass across Route 19 was on Sunday night talked down from the span by a city police sergeant and two priests, authorities said. Police said the “suicidal” woman was hanging from the bridge at Valley Road and threatening to jump at…
November 20, 2015 PATERSON, NJ — A city police officer trained in crisis negotiations talked an emotionally disturbed man out of jumping from the roof of a garage on Madison Avenue on Friday afternoon, authorities said. The officer, Mike Medina, who is certified in the CIT-NJ Center of Excellence Program, conversed with the man for…
Suburban police officers dealing with an increase in mental health and substance abuse calls are not equipped to handle such crises, experts say. That’s why social workers at police departments are essential to helping bridge the gap between law enforcement and the myriad human problems they encounter. Yet, few suburban police departments have them, and…
Police across the United States are rethinking how they use force amid national outrage over questionable shootings and violent arrests. The changes include efforts in Dallas to train officers to de-escalate situations by moving backward during target practice and arming some with sponge projectiles rather than guns. In Camden County, New Jersey, officers are taught…
Ancora Psychiatric Hospital reported the most violence among the state’s four psychiatric hospitals during a nine-month period in 2015, according to a new report published by the New Jersey Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services. Patients and staff were assaulted badly enough to require medical attention 77 times between January and September last year. Three patients and two employees received significant…