The Criminal Diversion Program is critical to ensuring that people can correct mistakes without carrying long-term baggage. In modern times, criminal diversion programs have positively transformed how law enforcement interacts with behavioral health responses.
These diversion programs (also known as pre-trial diversion programs) can prevent behavioral health patients from unnecessarily being charged, convicted, and jailed. A criminal diversion program can effectively reduce strain on police officers, ensuring they have the resources to focus on their community’s most important safety elements.
Let’s discuss in more detail why a criminal diversion program is critical for communities and how many areas have already been transformed.

What Makes Criminal Diversion Programs So Beneficial to Behavioral and Mental Health Response?
The idea behind Criminal Diversion Programs is to give people who may be first-time offenders a chance to avoid a criminal record and achieve transformation. We often see swift criminalization for certain offenses leading to more problems, not less. While there are no hard and fast rules about how a diversion program needs to operate, the standard is that those people who may be eligible for the program are reviewed carefully.
When it comes to the behavioral patient, you may have someone acting disorderly in public or engaging in other potentially illicit activities that may or may not be the result of psychiatric illness. The idea is not to give people a free pass but to holistically look at people and ask the question: “What’s best for them? What’s best for their family?”
The following sections show that a criminal diversion program doesn’t just help people get on track. They can also have a positive impact on an entire law enforcement agency.
Here’s a list of the many ways criminal diversion improves LE response to behavioral health:
- Help Reframe How Police Officers Approach Behavioral Calls
- Criminal Diversion Programs Free Up Law Enforcement Resources
- Aim to Correct the Root Cause of Behavioral Health Issues
- Offer Room for Creative Options for Juvenile Behavioral Responses
- Create Trust in Law Enforcement Agencies
- Many Criminal Diversion Programs Offer Programs for Substance Abuse/Alcohol Abuse Disorders
- Bring Community Responders Together in a Synergistic Way
As you read further, you’ll find that we dissect these ideas in greater detail and nuance.
Criminal Diversion Programs Help Reframe How Police Officers Approach Behavioral Calls
The first thing that criminal diversion programs (even on a small scale) do is help reframe the officer’s mindset when they respond to a behavioral incident. Many police officers have a mindset that involves protecting the innocent from the aggressor.
Of course, this is an integral part of being an officer; however, it can become a bit confusing when the innocent person is acting out, and the aggressor is the mental/physical disease within them. Yes, these afflicted persons can harm others (and we must prevent this from happening), but the affliction also harms them. Perhaps a better way to discuss this would be with an illustration.
The classic example is a behavioral emergency after a car accident. A person might act angrily, screaming and even threatening others. The officers responding to the incident may be preconditioned to think this is road rage and that the person is the aggressor and a threat – and, therefore, must be forcefully detained.
However, when EMS arrives (or the patient is later evaluated), they find that the person has a severe head injury. What this “road rage” person needed was treatment, not detainment.
Of course, this is an honest mistake, but one that happens relatively frequently and with many serious consequences. Just reframing from thinking about the “threat” to thinking about the medical/psychological forces behind the threat can make a big difference in how behavioral patients are treated.
Criminal Diversion Programs Free Up Law Enforcement Resources
Another positive aspect of Criminal Diversion is that, when properly implemented, it can free up law enforcement resources within the communities. In areas with no dedicated behavioral response team, police officers are often left to respond to (and spend a significant amount of time) scenes that dedicated Mobile Crisis Response Teams could handle.
Like an assembly line at a factory, the efficiency achieved when first responders specialize in an area (such as behavioral health) and can respond to those incidents is impressive.
Think of it like sending an email to multiple people – when everyone has to respond, sometimes (often) nobody responds.
However, when an email is sent to a specific person, they are more likely to take responsibility and respond. A similar thing happens with dedicated response teams.
They Aim to Correct the Root Cause of Behavioral Health Issues
Are you tired of responding to the same people for the same problems repeatedly? You’re not alone. Many Police/Fire/EMS systems have realized they can no longer practice a “treat it and leave it” technique. Instead, many agencies are opting for programs that work to correct a problem.
If someone is jailed because they acted out due to a behavioral problem, will jail time correct the problem? Many would say no. Many would say that offering a dedicated program for rehab/treatment would lead to better outcomes. Of course, these programs aren’t perfect, but they are a step in the right direction.
Well-Designed Programs Offer Room for Creative Options for Juvenile Behavioral Responses
In the last section, we mentioned that jail time or detention in a facility is often counterintuitive to correcting the core problem. This couldn’t be truer than when dealing with adolescents.
Unfortunately, when young people are involved in any behavioral crisis, their community often
doesn’t have the support they need. This can lead to a long life of being in and out of detention centers, with little hope of improvement.
Criminal Diversion Programs seek to stop this damaging cycle before it begins. These programs give young people steps that they can take to avoid detention, hopefully leaving them with an open door to a life outside of legal trouble.
They Create Trust in Law Enforcement Agencies
It’s no secret that trust in public institutions of all kinds has been rattled in recent years. Law enforcement must maintain and build the community’s trust, as trust is a requisite for community support and involvement in public safety.
When a police force decides to take part in a Diversion Program, such as the CAHOOTS program, they send the public an important message: that they really are about long-term solutions and that they are there to serve the community.
Often, these programs are established with mobile crisis response teams with the goal of de-escalation and treatment. In many cases, these teams will have a mental health professional, a medic, and an unarmed officer. They all work together to manage a negative situation and prevent long-term consequences for the person experiencing the crisis and those around them.
Many Criminal Diversion Programs Offer Programs for Substance Abuse/Alcohol Abuse Disorders
Police officers know that substance use and behavioral emergencies often go hand in hand. In many areas, diversion programs related to substance use have also been effective. While there are cases where mental health issues are causing the substance abuse, there are also cases where it’s the substance causing the mental health/behavioral emergency.
A genuinely transformative pre-trial diversion program will consider both issues, leading to better long-term outcomes for the people they serve.
Criminal Diversion Programs Bring Community Responders Together in a Synergistic Way
Another positive effect of criminal diversion programs is bringing community responders together. Creating a roadmap for people who want to improve themselves involves more than police officers, it requires physicians, paramedics, mental health professionals, and more. While all these connections can appear daunting at first, the connections made during these programs are what create a strong system.
We’ve all seen examples of communities that were divided. Unfortunately, when disasters strike, a divided community has trouble taking positive action. Instead, many of these areas fall prey to internal fights and political grandstanding, leading to an unhealthy community – especially for those who are already struggling.
Conclusion: Why So Many Areas Use Criminal Diversion for Behavioral Health
Too many people want something to be perfect before they give it a try. Criminal diversion programs aren’t perfect, but they are a much more humane alternative to the default methods practiced by many communities. Programs focused on positive action provide hope and second chances to individuals with little to no criminal record, helping them build a brighter future.
A criminal diversion program can make a big impact on how officers respond to behavior emergencies, how the people perceive the police force, and how a community responds during a large-scale crisis.
If you’re looking to implement a jail diversion program for your community, contact Julota to uncover how their innovative software tools can help you cement your program in a foundation of safe, secure data.