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Kent County highlights behavioral health crisis center results and launches public-safety technology initiatives
Summary
Officials reported the Kent County Behavioral Health Crisis Center provided more than 7,500 interventions between May 2024 and September 2025 and described new public-safety tools including Connect Kent County real-time intelligence and a school safety radio network connecting K-12 schools directly to dispatch.
Ben Green and county officials highlighted the Kent County Behavioral Health Crisis Center and several public-safety technology initiatives intended to improve responses to behavioral health and emergency incidents.
Green said the crisis center, created in partnership with Network180 and Trinity Health Grand Rapids, provides 24/7 walk-in and law-enforcement drop-off services and offers up to 72 hours of stabilization. Between May 2024 and September 2025, Green said the center provided more than 7,500 interventions; nearly nine in 10 people who met inpatient criteria were stabilized without hospitalization and the inpatient readmission rate within 30 days was 1.3 percent. Green said seven agencies completed more than 460 law-enforcement drop-offs and that officer drop-off now takes less than six minutes on average. He said inpatient admissions for behavioral health are down by nearly 300 cases and that the average cost per stabilization-unit stay dropped from over $6,300 in 2024 to under $4,700 in 2025.
County officials also described Connect Kent County, a real-time intelligence center at the sheriff’s office that aggregates live data monitoring, mapping, license-plate readers and community video feeds to support multi-jurisdiction coordination. The county said schools, businesses and residents will be able to volunteer camera feeds to the network.
Officials introduced a school safety radio network that will link every K–12 school in the county directly to dispatch and law enforcement. In a video segment, Dr. Steve Matthews, superintendent of Rockford Public Schools, described how radio dispatches put school administrators “at the front of the line” for response, and Deputy Steve Tunstra, a Kent County school resource officer, said the direct radio connection eliminates delays associated with 911 calls and improves responses during critical incidents. Tunstra described a recent accidental activation that nonetheless demonstrated the system’s immediate notification and response capabilities.
No new ordinances or board votes were announced at the event; officials framed these programs as recent and ongoing investments in crisis response and public safety.
