Community Support Unit
The Community Support Unit
focuses on providing resources
to people in need experiencing a
mental health crisis, poverty, and
homelessness. The unit has several
strategic partnerships to assist
individuals including the Arlington
Housing Authority, JPS Hospital,
Tarrant County MHMR, Veteran Affairs,
and Mission Arlington.
The department has three law
liaisons who ride out with a specialized
Mental Health Peace Officer in each
patrol district. The ride outs occur
once per week. The purpose of the
team approach is to connect with
clients within two weeks of receiving
mental health services and respond to
assess and prioritize follow up care to
decrease the risk that individuals will
experience another crisis.
The Crime Prevention Unit seeks
out opportunities to assist patrol
districts with educating community
members on the various programs
and citizen outreach efforts. The unit
is led by a lieutenant and sergeant
58
| 2018 Annual Report
with four crime
prevention officers
and two professional
staff employees,
who lead the
departmental
efforts in community
engagement.
In 2018, the
department had a
total of 175 students
graduate from the
High School Citizens
Police Academy
(HSCPA), the
Citizens Police Academy (CPA), and
the Hispanic Citizens Police Academy
(HCPA).
The unit manages the volunteer
system and prepares the department
for National Night Out each year.
In 2018, there were 232 registered
community watch groups in Arlington.
This level of community engagement
led to Arlington’s first place for
community participation in National
Night Out. The unit manages
Nextdoor which is a social media
platform to disseminate public safety
information to 63,517 active residents
on the site.
Crime prevention officers
attend safety fairs, special events,
and manage district issues related
to citizens requesting officers at a
function. Last year, Citizens on Patrol
Mobile volunteers conducted speed
surveys, which the department used to
direct resources to problematic areas.