Photo: Carl Stevens/WBZ NewsRadio
LYNN, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — There was a launch party at Lynn City Hall on Tuesday for the city’s brand new “Calm Team.”
The Lynn Calm Team is a new crisis response service in the city, whose members are trained in mental and behavioral health. DEI Officer and Senior Advisor to Mayor Jared Nicholson, Faustina Cuevas, helped create the team and said people can call for help in non-violent situations.
“The City of Lynn, for many years now, has been working to launch an alternative to police response: an unarmed response,” said Cuevas.
Cuevas said the Lynn Calm Team has two full-time members for the mental and behavioral side and the city’s Substance Abuse Disorder Coordinator will work part-time on the team. The main goals are harm reduction and de-escalating non-violent situations.
“An example might be someone sleeping in their car. You’re walking by every day. You see someone in their car. You’re like, hey, there seems to be something off here. I see this person kind of wandering. I want to get them help. I want someone to talk to them,” said Cuevas. “Instead of calling the police, you can call this alternative.”
Cuevas said the phone number to call will be launched in July and she hopes the pilot program will expand in the coming years.
“The bottom line is alternatives to public safety, alternatives that are unarmed, are important for the community,” said Cuevas. “They’ve called on us to do something and the government responded.”
WBZ NewsRadio’s Carl Stevens (@CarlWBZ) reports.