Los Angeles launched a new approach to public safety on Monday, a training program that will utilize therapy, yoga, and healing circles to fight crime as an unarmed alternative to law enforcement intervention, according to NBC.
Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez of Los Angeles County announced the Therapeutic Unarmed Response for Neighborhoods (TURN) initiative Monday, according to NBC Los Angeles. The plan is to provide crisis workers with treatment options so they can continue to be at the scene of the crime as a buffer before the police arrive.
“These crisis intervention workers are exposed to trauma with regularity,” Rodriguez told City News Service. “And they’ve never been provided those tools to help manage that.” (RELATED: ‘A Violent Start To The Year’: Murders Are Already Soaring In These Six Major Cities)
The idea behind the program is that therapy options allow crisis workers to continue to be the first point of contact and in some situations avoid police interaction altogether, according to City News. The program kicked off with a three-day training on trauma for the community workers.
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The program cost $2.2 million in city funds and seeks to aid retention of the 100 community intervention workers in Los Angeles, according to City News.
“Mediation requires maintenance,” said Co-founder of the Community Based Public Safety Collective, Aqeela Sherrills.
LAPD is aware and supportive of the program, according to the president of San Fernando Valley-based Champions in Service, Bobby Arias. But working with the police isn’t a goal of the community intervention workers because they “can’t be perceived by the community as snitches,” said Arias.
“They know the terrain. They know the families … They’ll have more intelligence in terms of what’s happening in the street than law enforcement will ever have,” said Sherrills.
Rodriguez’s office did not immediately respond to Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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