Brooklyn Park is a suburban city on the west bank of the Mississippi River, upstream from downtown Minneapolis in northern Hennepin County, with a population of about 86,000.
Brooklyn Park Police Department (BPPD) formed a Mental Health Unit in 2019 to provide better services and resources to the community.
With the addition of a Hennepin County Behavioral Health senior social worker the police department will work with individuals and providers in local group homes to address the needs of children and families, assess arrested persons for Restorative Court eligibility, and respond to in-progress crises. BPPD will expand mental health risk assessment, alternative response, and collaborative resourcing with support services to improve encounter outcomes and ultimately reduce recidivism among our target population. Cohort 2021.
Program Goals
- Increase the preventative response to mental illness
- Increase safety among persons with mental illness as well as officers
- Increase subject diversion to mental health treatment
- Increase officer awareness and education
- Decrease conflict during crisis between police and the mentally ill
- Decrease repeat calls for service involving people with mental illness
- Decrease the community impact of untreated mental illness
- Decrease mental health issues that reach the judicial system and prisons
Key Partnership Organizations
Hennepinn County Behavioral Health