Prosecutor’s office seeks college-credit partnership for academy graduates and expands Arrive Together mental-health response with state grant

The Union County Prosecutor’s Office presented two resolutions for consideration: a partnership to provide college credits to graduates of the Stammler Police Academy through Union College, and an expansion of the county’s Arrive Together co-responder program supported by a $105,000 state grant.

Prosecutor William Daniel explained that the college-credit arrangement will allow academy graduates who later enroll in college to receive up to 18 credits toward their degree. He described the credits as contingent on the graduate’s enrollment at the college; if a recruit completes the academy but does not pursue post-high-school education, those credits would not be automatically conferred. Commissioners praised the partnership as a positive opportunity for academy graduates.

On the Arrive Together resolution, William Daniel described the program’s three-year county rollout in which law enforcement partners team with Trinitas mental-health screeners to respond to critical incidents. He said the expansion — funded by a $105,000 grant from the state of New Jersey — will place mental-health specialists on call 24/7 to respond with police to barricaded individuals in situations that are predominantly mental-health related, not criminal hostage or homicide scenarios. Daniel said the program has reduced excessive-use-of-force complaints on calls where mental-health screeners were present.

Commissioners, including Rivera and Mirabella, complimented the program and the prosecutor’s office for the partnership with county colleges, law enforcement agencies and Trinitas. The presentation was placed on the agenda for formal consideration; no final vote on these resolutions was recorded in the agenda-setting session.