Sheriff Derek R. Osborne is proud to unveil the creation of the Tompkins County Sheriff’s Office Transparency Hub on the Sheriff's Office website. This has been in the works for several months and the first data dashboard related to the C.A.R.E. (Crisis Alternative Response & Engagement) Team is now live.
Other data dashboards related to the work of his Office, such as call activity, arrest statistics, the civilian response unit, and use of force incidences are currently being constructed and will be released on the hub throughout 2024.
The hub opens with the statement, “Transparency in our work is of upmost importance as it serves to increase communication, transparency, and accountability. Without basic information on how our activity impacts the lives of our community members, it is difficult to build a trusting relationship between the Sheriff’s Office and the community we are sworn to protect and serve. The purpose of this dashboard is to provide you with complete data on our activities and their associated outcomes. Our dashboard presents data that is currently collected by us, with the intent to expand upon it in time”.
The C.A.R.E. team program’s primary purpose is to provide comprehensive mental health services to persons in mental, behavioral, or emotional crisis. The goals of the unit are to match mental health services to a person in crisis, increase access to the mental health system resources, increase knowledge/access to community services, divert community members from the criminal justice system when mental/behavioral health issues are the driving force of their actions and reduce the patrol officer’s time in handling such individuals.
The licensed clinical therapist is an employee from Mental Health Services of Tompkins County Whole Health. The law enforcement component of the team is a specially trained Deputy Sheriff from the Sheriff’s Office. Calls that come into the 911 Center that are typically assigned to the C.A.R.E. team include but are not limited to those involving mental health issues, a significant life event, drug dependency, homelessness, and/or domestic abuse-related issues. Referrals for a C.A.R.E. team response may also come directly from community partners and law enforcement officers in the field. In addition, the C.A.R.E. team provides follow-up services for individuals previously encountered during a crisis within 48 hours. We currently have one C.A.R.E. team that typically works Monday-Friday from 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM.
When calls for alternative response methods were made, Sheriff Osborne and Undersheriff Olin recommended a co-response model to the Legislature in March 2021 which resulted in funding for the desired positions.
Tompkins County Sheriff Derek Osborne stated, “The Sheriff’s Office recognizes that not all responses to calls for service require involvement with the criminal justice system. Law Enforcement and Mental Health workers have unique skill sets that can complement one another in crisis situations.” Osborne continued, “A co-response model involves police, who are trained to handle situations that could involve violence and potential injury, and mental health professionals who can consult with officers and offer direct care and resources to individuals in crisis.”
The C.A.R.E. Team data dashboard provides statistics regarding the number of calls the team responds to, call types, municipality, demographics on those served, and the associated outcomes. The Sheriff's Office hopes that this dashboard will provide community members not only with insight into data points that will assist with determining the success of the program, but also with identifying gaps in services within our community that contribute to someone experiencing a crisis.
The Sheriff’s Office would like to thank the Tompkins County Information Technology Services Department for their partnership and technical assistance needed in creating the hub.
The hub can be found by visiting the Sheriff's Office website or by clicking on the following link: https://tompkins-county-sheriffs-office-tompkinscounty.hub.arcgis.com/
