‘It’s all about service’: New program allows local police department to tailor response

PINEVILLE, N.C. — With police reform an issue nationwide, departments are looking at ways to better serve the communities they protect -- including in Pineville.

911 operators are changing the way officers respond to calls for people with physical and mental disabilities, as well as mental health issues.

Sergeant Josh Harb oversees the new Safe Outcomes Program that recently launched and said policing has changed a lot in his 15 years with the department.

“The biggest change I’ve seen is the awareness of mental health,” Harb told Channel 9.

The Safe Outcomes Program is designed to alert officers if the person they’re coming into contact with might be triggered by things like flashing lights or loud noises, such as sirens.

That allows officers to tailor their approach.

“Now we’re starting to put pieces of the puzzle together and see there’s more to it here -- there’s more going on here than we see,” Harb said.

So far, 15 of the department’s 41 officers are CIT certified, which means they’re on the crisis intervention team.

Chief Michael Hudgins told Channel 9 he’d like every officer certified, eventually.

“We want safe outcomes for the police and also for the citizens we serve,” he said. “It’s all about service.”

But police also need people who live and work in Pineville to take part by filling out this form, with your name and birthdate -- and whether you live with any type of condition.

The dispatch center stores that information and it’s sent to officers when they respond.

“That information stays within the walls of the police department,” Harb said. “We don’t even have it until it pops up on our screen.”

So far this year, more than 50 people with mental illness have been shot and killed by police nationwide, according to the Treatment Advocacy Center.

That amounts to nearly 25% of all deadly police encounters.

Pineville PD is trying to get ahead of the problem.

“If we’re just taking them to jail, that’s wasting taxpayers time and money,” Harb said. “It’s wasting our time and money and if we can get them into a program and get them help, we may not have to see them in the future. They may get the help they need.”

Officials with the Pineville Police Department said that in order for the Safe Outcomes Program to be a success, they need people to fill out this form.

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