Police budget advisory board urges restoration of two positions and a mental health professional for Geneva Police Department

The Geneva Police Budget Advisory Board presented council with recommendations to restore two civil-service positions eliminated from the police department, expand investigative capacity and add a mental health professional to the Geneva Police Department (GPD).

The advisory board speaker said the recommendations follow a staffing study by the New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services, which recommended a full complement of 34 police staff for the department. The board argued restoring positions would improve officer safety, reduce chronic overtime, allow investigative work (including narcotics inquiries) and restore time for community engagement.

The board also recommended the city explore adding a mental health professional to respond to crisis calls, perform assessments and referrals, improve training, and develop policy. Presenters said current tablet-based consultations and the county clinic used for assessing arrests under mental hygiene law are limited: they can determine whether a mental-hygiene arrest is required but do not provide hands-on case management or connection to community services. The board noted local clinicians sometimes charge fees and that the city's records management system limits quantitative tracking of mental health-related calls.

Recommendations laid out two possible models for an embedded mental-health position: a clinical-treatment model (which would require clinical supervision and limits on caseload) and a case-management model (which focuses on assessments and referrals and requires less in-house clinical supervision). The board favored a case-management model for a city-based pilot and suggested pursuing grant funding for an initial pilot and possible K-9 acquisition.

Council members asked whether grants could fund a pilot and whether an embedded mental health worker would be a city employee. The board cited several local foundations and past grant opportunities (including Finger Lakes Behavioral Health interest and foundations such as the Greater Rochester Health Foundation and Mother Cabrini Foundation) as potential funding sources and noted that a pilot would likely require a city position or interagency agreement depending on model chosen.

The presentation recommended collecting better data by upgrading the city's records-management system (in coordination with the county) and running a pilot to measure whether an embedded mental health professional reduces call time, improves outcomes and frees officer time for other duties. The advisory board encouraged a pilot and pledged to continue collecting data and proposals to support grant applications.