Independence is considering joining the ranks of other cities in Northern Kentucky by adding a full-time police social worker to the force.
“There’s a lot of people out there that they don’t have the ability to get resources they need,” Independence Sergeant George Kreutzjans told the Independence City Council on Monday, where the council performed the first reading of an ordinance adding the position.
Kreuztjans has been advocating for a police social worker for several months. He and Independence Police Chief Brian Ferayorni pitched the position on Monday, arguing that a full-time social worker would be better able to handle calls police encounter frequently but aren’t necessarily in the best position to handle.
“That’s the trend these days,” Kreuztjans said, “to always send the police. If you don’t send the police, you send the fire department. In many of these cases, you’re sending a carpenter to do surgery.”
Ferayorni said that a police social worker would be better able to address repeated calls around domestic issues, drugs and other issues that would be better handled with a service intervention rather than a police intervention.
“The idea is to prevent repeat calls,” Ferayorni said. “If you can get the people the help they need to get them off drugs, to get mental health treatment, to get out of domestic violence, you will limit the number of calls you go to. In turn, it will help the city and the officers and the citizens themselves.”
Like other police social workers in the region, Independence’s social worker would work in a secondary role on the force, meaning they would not necessarily be out with first responders. Instead, they would help connect relevant cases to necessary services.
Kreuztjans gave an example of a domestic violence incident where the aggressor is arrested on the spot and then the victim is connected to the social worker, who would assist that person in getting out of the relationship long-term or getting connected to a crisis center.
The council will vote on the measure in October.