Crisis Services Liaison Officer

The Hamden Police Department recognizes that there is a need in some situations in which the services of a social worker, a mental health professional or a substance abuse counselor would be beneficial and offer a greater degree of specialization or a higher level of service than a typical well trained police officer is equipped to provide. 

In response to this need, the Hamden Police Department has created the position of a Crisis Services Liaison Officer. This Officer is assigned to the HPD Neighborhood Initiative Unit and is available to all of our staff on a 24-hour basis to assist with contacting and coordinating the appropriate outreach services that are needed for each individual incident that is beyond the specialty of the police officers assigned to assist the citizen in crisis or in need of these services. 

The Crisis Services Liaison Officer’s responsibilities are to coordinate, assist and be a liaison to our mobile outreach providers; Yale Behavioral Health (mental health),  Clifford Bears- Juvenile Mobile Crisis Unit (juvenile mental health / trauma), South Central Mobile Crisis  (mental health outreach),  Town of Hamden Elderly Services,  Hamden Housing Authority ,  Clifford Bears  (anti-violence outreach),  Cornell Scott Hill Healthcare  (healthcare, substance abuse counseling, mental health outreach for the homeless or at risk population) and the Columbus House Outreach Team (unsheltered populations service engagement).   Furthermore, the Crisis Servicers Liaison Officer is certified in crisis intervention and provides direct intervention when he is on duty. This Officer also conducts follow up investigations to assess the citizen or family in crisis and determine if additional support is necessary in the days following an incident.