Attorney General Matthew Platkin speaks to reporters during a press conference at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center on Tuesday, August 1, 2023.Suffering from a mental illness with nowhere to go but Newark Penn Station last month, the man could have been forced by police into a squad car or an ambulance and hauled away.
“But if you watch incidents that go badly, so often they start like that: an innocent interaction where somebody needs help. In this case, we’re able to get them that help in a way that’s clinically appropriate and safer for everyone involved.” But since June, mental health screeners from Newark Beth Israel Medical Center and Rutgers University Behavioral Health Care have been paired with Newark and NJ Transit cops three days a week to handle such calls.“We’ve essentially eliminated the use of force and we’ve had no injuries,” Platkin said of the response.