Adding Mental Health Co-Responder Headlines ‘Year of Growth’ for Lansdale Police

Dan Sokil | The Reporter•

Alexis Moyer, Lansdale’s mental health co-responder, poses with a Lansdale Borough Police Department SUV.

2023 was a milestone year for the Lansdale Borough Police Department, one that looks likely to have lasting impacts on the department.

Police Chief Mike Trail gave his department’s annual report to council and the public last week, giving highlights of how his department has worked to keep the community safe over the past year.

"Our brand is service. We deliver public safety service to this community. And through the years, we’ve been able to constantly one-up the year before,” he said.

In late 2022 borough council approved the hiring of four police officers, three of whom joined the department early in 2023 and the other in July. Those hires, Trail said, were each indicators that Lansdale’s police enjoy strong levels of support from their community, from the council members that approved the hires and the residents they meet every day.

"When they want to work for a police department — these young folks are very smart when they’re job hunting. They’re more selective, they’re looking for communities to come work in that support them, that support the department,” he said.

That support for police was seen firsthand throughout the year, from events that drew thousands of people to town, to the smaller interactions that are meaningful for a few.

"In 2023 we participated in several hundred events, large mass gatherings, from Bike Night, to car shows, to Founders Day with fireworks, down to the regular block parties, the Halloween parties, into the 100th birthdays (for) folks up at Elm Terrace,” Trail said.

As he spoke to council on Feb. 14, the chief showed off a new format for the report: an interactive online document with links to details of each component of the report, such as the mental health co-responder program that began last summer in partnership with local mental health support agency Merakey.

"Our men and women are great. They can go out and triage any incident, they can show up on a scene, they can de-escalate, they can get people into a safe space at the moment. But what they can’t do, and what they don’t have the skills for, is that follow-up care, and that follow-up care is the most important thing,” he said.

Co-responder Alexis Moyer detailed her successes so far to council’s public safety committee in early February, and Trail summarized the nearly 300 incidents she’s had so far: "Her work here has been nothing short of phenomenal.”

"I don’t think anyone can appreciate how much she has changed the way we approach our mental health calls, and all of our calls for service. A lot of our calls for service really originate around mental health, or co-occurring emotional health issues, substance abuse,” he said.

"What our officers have seen is, Alexis can come out and not only engage in that de-escalation with us — and in some instances, probably is a little bit better than most of my men and women — Alexis has been great. She’s been a great teammate, and she’s been able to integrate into our organization, and she’s gained the trust and respect of our officers and the community,” Trail said.

The statistics section of the report presents the numbers of calls for mental health services, attempted suicides, and overdoses, all with spikes during the pandemic years and decreases since, before detailing the training that all officers are required to complete. The police promotions authorized late in 2023 and formally ratified in early 2024 will be reflected in the department’s report next year, while the current report details the responsibilities of uniformed officers and the support staff who assist them.

"We are a business that never, ever closes. We’re never closed. Bad snowstorm? We’re open. Holidays? We’re open. Midnight? We’re open. 4 a.m.? We’re open. And we have to be ready to tackle any task that comes at any one of those times,” he said.

As a regional lodging facility, Lansdale’s station handles suspects and prisoners for departments, and those support staff play key roles.

"We handle prisoners for 14 different police departments in Montgomery County, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, so we are constantly moving prisoners in and out of our jail cell. That activity is all overseen by our support staff — all the monitoring, all the reporting requirements, to keep those guys and gals safe, that’s done by our professional support staff,” he said.

In 2023 those support staff helped fill 130 right-to-know requests, completed 137 background checks, handled 542 accident reports, issued 85 parking permits, and received over 1,300 parking tickets, totaling just over $31,000 in fines, plus another $8,100 for reports, and roughly $80,000 in income from the booking station being used by other departments. In 2025, the chief added, his department is planning to host community listening session where residents can give feedback directly to officers, and community roll calls when the public can see how officers are deployed each day.

"They’re actually sitting in with the men and women in the morning, when they’re getting their duties and assignments for the day, and they’re following up on what’s going on,” he said.

Police also plan to continue to partner with institutions such as schools, houses of worship, and other community groups to build relationships before any incidents happen, and the report also included headlines from major incident responses, promotions, and outreach events over the past year.

"Without your support, we would not be able to go out in the world, and do what we do,” Trail said.

Introducing the chief’s presentation, Mayor Garry Herbert delivered a speech describing 2023 as a "year of growth” for the department, and calling on council to "fully fund and continue” the mental health co-responder program once its current grant funding expires in 2025.

"Our program not only helps individuals in crisis, but reduces the burden on our criminal justice and healthcare systems, while also freeing up our officers to focus on other public safety priorities,” he said. "By investing in mental health response, we can lift the entire community, and create a safer, healthier and more resilient Lansdale for all.”

Herbert also noted the statistics included in the report, which showed a roughly two percent drop in total crime incidents in 2023 compared to a ten-year average, with violent and property crimes down by roughly 12 percent compared to 2013.

"This is a direct result of our proactive and compassionate approach to public safety, which prioritizes prevention, intervention and diversion over punitive and reactive measures,” Herbert said: "We are not just enforcing the law, we are empowering our community to thrive and flourish.”

Council President Mary Fuller thanked Trail for the report, and the rest of the department for their constant work to protect the community.

"We see you 365 days a year, seven days a week, 24 hours a day, because you’re never closed, and that’s not lost on us. We appreciate that,” she said.

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