Warminster Joins Bucks County Co-Responder Program

WARMINSTER, PA —Warminster Township has joined neighboring Warrington and Warwick for a two-year trial in Bucks County’s Co-Responder program.

Warminster Township Supervisors said the pilot program teams up social service and mental health professionals —known as Co-Responders —with police officers in an effort to divert people with social and mental health needs away from the criminal justice system.

Township Manager Tom Scott said that Warminster would be in the program from June 21 until May 31, 2025.

The program is funded through a Bucks County grant. Once the pilot program ends, municipalities would decide whether to continue the program.

Co-Responders respond to situations involving mental health and social services. They also follow up on referrals and cases, freeing up police for patrol, emergencies, and public safety.

"Our police are very, very busy," Township Supervisors Chairman Kenneth Hayes said. "They will take calls away from the police department. This will help reduce their time."

The Co-Responder program was first piloted by the county in 2020 in Bensalem. It has since been expanded to Middletown, Falls, and Bristol townships and Bristol Borough, and Tullytown Borough.

Police Chief James Donnelly said the program provides a "laundry list" of assets for mental health, child abuse, and veterans affairs.

He said the police department will work with Warrington and Warwick, but that Warminster may handle 65 percent of the call volume.

"This just started in Upper Bucks," the chief said.

Township supervisors approved the pilot program at its March meeting.

The program is designed to:

• Decrease the time law enforcement spends in response to a situation involving social service needs.
• Provide a more effective emergency response through the addition of clinical-informed support and an enhanced community resource knowledge base.
• Ensure those who outreach for an emergency response receive timely and streamlined connections to resources to address their social service needs.
• Divert individuals with primary social service needs from further penetration into the criminal justice system.