Co-Responder Unit

Officer Gregory, part of our Co-Responder team, sits with community member during crisis.The Co-Responder Unit, which was started in 2018, was developed to aid the mental health crises and address behavioral health challenges in our community. This grant-funded program pairs a law enforcement officer with a master's level clinician who ride together and respond to active calls for service that involve behavioral health crisis. This specialized unit has been successful at diverting officers from complex mental health calls back to the streets so they can answer in-progress calls for service, while providing important crisis response services to our community.

Historically, this program partnered with our local community mental health center, Mind Springs, to provide and employ the mental health professionals. In 2022, the City of Grand Junction and City Council agreed to not only employ full time in-house clinicians, but also make the Co-Responder Unit a permanently funded program within the Grand Junction Police Department. With this shift, the GJPD partnered with Hilltop Community Resources to provide clinical oversight to the clinicians, adding their expertise and knowledge to the program. 

The Co-Responder Unit responded to 1,070 behavioral health calls in 2022. 

Addressing the mental health needs in our community remains a priority for the GJPD. If you are experiencing a mental or behavioral crisis, please call 911 and request to speak with our co-responder team.