East Hampton police chief backs mental‑health co‑response but warns against 'defunding' cuts to officers

East Hampton Village Police Chief Jeffrey Erickson told a radio interviewer that he supports pairing mental‑health professionals with police to handle severely emotionally disturbed people, but he objected to shifting funds away from policing as part of broad "defund the police" proposals.

"Mental health has a lot to do, is connected to crime," Erickson said. He described existing telehealth options and said officers will transport individuals judged a threat under the public health law to Stony Brook psychiatric services. "If it's calm, they can transport... and that removes two officers... from the road," he said, arguing that a co‑response model could help officers return to patrol sooner.

Erickson said he understood the intent behind calls to fund mental‑health services but warned that it should not come at the cost of reducing police capacity. "You need to add. You can't... take away from law enforcement," he said, adding that an integrated, team‑based approach where mental‑health experts work alongside police "would be fantastic."

Why it matters: Many communities are balancing public‑safety responsibilities with calls to expand behavioral‑health supports. Erickson's description emphasizes operational tradeoffs—transport times and officer unavailability for patrol—that influence how local agencies evaluate co‑response models.

Erickson also noted practical options already in use: telehealth consults for emotionally disturbed persons and the availability of psychiatric intake at regional hospitals. He suggested that if funding can support joint teams without starving police budgets, a co‑response approach could be valuable for East Hampton.

No formal policy change or new funding source was announced during the interview; Erickson offered views on practice and preferred models rather than a specific program commitment.