Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes, Passaic Mayor Hector C. Lora, Passaic Police
Chief Luis A. Guzman, and St. Mary’s General Hospital President and CEO Edward J. Condit
announce the upcoming launch of the highly regarded ARRIVE Together program in the City of
Passaic.
Alternative Responses to Reduce Instances of Violence and Escalation (ARRIVE) Together is a
statewide program, implemented by the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General and overseen
by its Office of Alternative and Community Responses, aimed at providing individuals in crisis or
in need of mental health support with assistance as quickly and effectively as possible. The
program teams police officers specifically trained in crisis intervention with mental health
professionals to respond to 9-1-1 calls relating to a mental health crisis. There are five program
types associated with ARRIVE: the Co-Responder Model, the Telehealth Model, the Close-in-Time Follow-Up Model, the Follow-Up Model, and the Critical Incident Model. The entirety of
Passaic County utilizes the Critical Incident Model. Passaic will also utilize the Co-Responder
Model and the Follow-up Model. The Co-Responder Model teams law enforcement officers with
a mental health service provider to respond to emergency service calls and/or follow-up visits that
relate to behavioral health crisis. With the Follow-Up Model, law enforcement respond on scene
and a mental health professional follows up with the individual to provide mental health and
support services at a later date. The Critical Incident Model provides mental health professionals
to critical incident teams responding to individuals in a barricaded situation.
Connecting law enforcement officers with mental health clinicians can help improve trust between
law enforcement and the community it serves. Partnering officers with mental health professionals
can lead to safer outcomes with fewer instances of use of force, arrests, and injuries. When officers
and mental health professionals respond together, wait times can be reduced and difficult situations
can be addressed before they escalate, and the chances of individuals being unnecessarily taken to
the hospital can be reduced.
The Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office, Passaic Police Department, and St. Mary’s General Hospital
invites the public and community stakeholders to an open forum about the ARRIVE Together
Program at 6:30 p.m. on May 20, 2026, at Passaic City Hall-Council Chambers, located at 330
Passaic Street, Passaic, New Jersey 07055. Representatives from all three partner agencies will be
on hand for the open discussion.
Please find the attached flyer for more information. For media inquiries regarding the ARRIVE
Together program, contact Senior Assistant Prosecutor Patrick Breen of the Passaic County
Prosecutor’s Office at pbreen@passaiccountynj.org or at (973) 881-4803.
