Social Workers and Police

You almost certainly remember the stories from back in 2020 about 'defunding the police' and replacing them with social workers -- or, in a more sober form, maybe putting some resources into having social workers who would be able to assist with certain kinds of calls. 

Locally, some of our small towns have been trying a version of that. The police aren't being defunded at all, and the social workers are college student interns or grad students from the local university. It is, however, working pretty well. They don't send the social worker instead of police, but rather on some kinds of calls a cruiser where a social worker volunteer is riding along is the one selected to respond.

Likewise, Chief David Adams said he was initially skeptical about having a social worker responding to calls when the conversation hit the mainstream in 2020; however, he admitted that he’s been “pleasantly surprised.” Despite his initial apprehension, Adams called the Sylva police chief to see how the program was working over there. When he heard how well things were going, he became intrigued and got onboard.  

Now, not only is [social worker Kasey] Curcio viewed as a valuable asset for the department, another social work intern from WCU, Tom Hines, is doing his internship with WPD and is also excelling.

It's an encouraging story, and another demonstration of how voluntary citizen non-coercive approaches can improve things. By coincidence that removes the tension around departments worrying about being 'de-funded,' and instead allows them to embrace the change rather than resisting it or feeling threatened by it.