Rochester police used less lethal device to disarm the man.
12:03 pm, Jan. 29, 2021
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Rochester Police and Mayo Clinic Ambulance respond to a scene on 1st Street northwest on Tuesday, January 26, 2021, in downtown Rochester. (Traci Westcott / twestcott@postbulletin.com)
Rochester Police Department leaders are hailing the handling of a mental health crisis earlier this week as the kind of "desired outcome" sought with a new co-responder model in which a police officer is paired with a social worker.
But was it a success? One of the goals of the model is to use social workers to de-escalate a crisis before it spirals out of control and police force becomes necessary.