Council renews Arrive Together crisis-response partnership for 2025—6

The Long Branch City Council approved a consent-agenda item on Aug. 13 that includes Resolution 164-25, renewing the city's participation in the Arrive Together program for the 2025—6 year.

Business Administrator and Public Safety Director Shirley described the program to the council as "enhanced support for law enforcement response to certain behavioral and crisis-type incident calls." Shirley said the program provides law enforcement with access to public mental-health system treatment and other resources for people encountered during welfare checks, suicide-risk calls, follow-up calls and behavioral-health incidents, "at no added charge," and that the city is "just joining on for another year."

The council president moved to take the resolutions as a consent agenda; the motion received a second and passed on a roll call with Councilman Rassus, Councilman Dangler and Dr. Vaux voting yes. Council members Vayer and Woodis were recorded absent. The renewal was included in the passed consent agenda and therefore took effect per the council's routine adoption of consent items.

Council members and staff described the renewal as keeping Long Branch "current with some of the practices in terms of behavioral health" and noted the program is intended to ensure responses to many calls include mental-health resources alongside police response.

No additional funding details, contract language, or implementation timeline beyond the one-year renewal were discussed on the record at the Aug. 13 meeting. City staff or members of the public who want the resolution text or program detail were directed to the city clerk's office for the official documents.