TCU professors get $7.2 million to study this alternative to arrest

The Institute of Behavioral Research at TCU has been awarded a $7.2 million grant from the NIH National Institute on Drug Abuse to study alternatives to arrest or prosecution that connect people with treatment instead.

The project will work with 20 communities across Colorado, Illinois, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

“We know that substance use and crime are deeply connected, and arrests alone aren’t fixing the problem,” said senior research scientist Jenny Becan, PhD. “Often arrests actually make things worse for people and their families.”

Instead of arresting an individual, the program would link that person to medical or emotional support, Becan said, and offer to enroll them into deflection. If someone opts into deflection, they would be connected with a peer navigator who could help them set up appointments or do anything else they need assistance with, Becan said.

“It’s all about reducing arrest and getting people to treatment, and it’s always about team effort between law enforcement, first responders, and community-based health providers,” Becan said.

The research is led by Becan and Kevin Knight, Ph.D., professor and IBR director.

The goal is that law enforcement can play a role in both public safety and public health, Becan said.

“Hopefully we’ll see reduced reoffending or recidivism, and breaking down that costly cycle of repeated, you know, going through the arrest and jail and back in the community,” she said.

Becan said she expects the research to further understanding of how deflection improves outcomes for people who use drugs and to inform best practices for communities using deflection.