What To Read This Week
First responders frequently respond to 911 calls where a person is so intoxicated that it would be unsafe to leave that person alone. In those situations, the first responder usually has two options—jail or an emergency room. Neither option is ideal. But, around the country, cities and counties are creating a third option: sobering centers.
This edition focuses on these Sobering Centers, which give people who are intoxicated a place to sober up until they are not a danger to themselves or others. They also provide a safe place to receive medically-assisted detox, mental health treatment, peer support,aftercare and connection to addiction treatment services.
First, we cover three new sobering centers that launched around the country in recent weeks. Then, we report the results from a national poll that help to put into context how and why the public views sobering centers as an effective public safety strategy.
1. Three More Sobering Centers Open Around The Country.
Here are three centers that recently opened their doors around the country:
Santa Cruz County Sheriff Champions New Sobering Center: “Arresting People Over And Over [Is] Like Banging Your Head Against The Wall — Why Not Interrupt That [with] A Treatment Center?” For California Healthcare Foundation Magazine, J. Duncan Moore Jr. reports on Santa Cruz’s new sobering center that provides “substance use treatment and mental health care” for people when they are arrested for intoxication, allowing them to “avoid the traditional criminal justice system pathway that puts them in the county jail.” As Moore reports, “what makes the Santa Cruz project unique and successful is strong support” from County Sheriff Jim Hart who has made it a mandate “that any arresting agency in the county that wants to use the county jail must also commit to bringing eligible people to the sobering center” instead.
Sheriff Hart explained to the magazine that “people who have been picked up by police for the first time for driving under the influence or for public inebriation can be brought to the sobering center for up to 24 hours to dry out… [and] the center also helps people who struggle with chronic alcohol use or substance use disorder [which also] saves county resources by reducing calls for service and limiting unnecessary bookings.”
Hart also explained that the existence of the sobering center “allows us to prioritize people coming in [instead of taking everyone to jail]…bad things happen in jail, our jail admissions are led by mental health challenges, addiction, and poverty, that is what drives the system, and we want to reduce the incidence of bad things happening. ”
Luis, a person who has struggled with alcohol addiction and received treatment at the sobering center, said that the facility turned his life around:
“Luis was having DUIs and losing jobs… ‘everything kept stacking up’... [but then he entered the program at the sobering center], where the staff helped stabilize him… Luis spent eight days in detox, after which he went into a residential treatment center… ‘without the sobering center, to be honest, I don’t know what I’d be doing, [now] I am learning, doing group meetings, talking about our feelings. All that helps me out… it’s a big step for me.’”
Albuquerque Opens “Around The Clock Sobering Center.” For the Albuquerque Journal, Noah Alcala Bach reports on the city’s new “sobering center at its flagship behavioral health facility at the Gateway Center.” The new facility will have capacity to provide treatment and services to “up to 50 patients at a time [who are] struggling with alcohol or drug addiction… and up to 18,250 people annually… giving people a place to sober up that's not an emergency room or jail cell.” Kasi Foote took a tour of the new facility for KOB4 and explained that the center is “staffed with medical professionals… who can do everything than an ER can do, but without the wait” and is designed to allow first responders “drop off right at the front door,” so patients can get care quickly, and first responders can get back on the streets faster.
Notably, Albuquerque also has a Community Safety Department, which is the “third branch of public safety” and houses the city’s unarmed responder teams. Thus, many calls for service involving people who are intoxicated are routed to mental health professionals, as part of the city’s effort to send the right expert for every problem. Now, these responders will be able to take people somewhere where they can both sober-up and be connected to long-term services as needed.
Des Moines Opens Its First-Ever Sobering Center Where People Can Go “Instead Of Jail Or The ER.” For ABC5 News, Connor O’Neal reports on Polk County’s first-ever sobering center where “Iowans facing addiction and mental health crises” will be able to receive treatment. Patients “can stay up to 23 hours at the facility” and when they complete their short-term treatment, staff connect them to additional resources, “so the care doesn't end when they leave.” Angela Connolly, chair of the Polk County Board of Supervisors and champion of the new center, explained to the news station that the sobering center was the public safety “piece that we had been missing” because now people can be taken here “instead of going to jail or the emergency room.”
2. NEW POLL: Voters Strongly Believe That Sobering Centers Make Communities Safer.
To gauge public support for Sobering Centers as a public safety strategy, Safer Cities recently conducted a national survey of 2,414 registered voters.
We defined sobering centers as a facility that gives “people who are intoxicated a place to sober up until they are not a danger to themselves or others” that “provide a safe place to receive medically-assisted detox, mental health treatment, peer support and aftercare.” We also explained that these facilities “help alleviate pressure on emergency rooms and keep people who don’t pose a safety risk out of jail.”
Then, we asked: “How effective do you think sobering centers are as a method of making your community safer?”
Here are the results:
86% Of Voters Say Sobering Centers Are “Effective” At “Making Your Community Safer.”
By a 75-point margin—86% to 11%—voters view sobering centers as “effective” as opposed to “not effective”
These results also reflect broad bipartisan support, including 90% of Democrats and 79% of Republicans who say sobering centers are effective.
The Most Effective Arguments In Favor Of Sobering Centers. We provided participants with “a few statements about the effectiveness of sobering centers” and then asked them to tell us “how convincing, if at all” each of those reasons are “for implementing sobering centers as a public safety policy?” Here are the three most persuasive arguments:
+80 Net Effective (90% to 10%): “Intoxicated people are often a threat to themselves and others, and require constant attention if they’re brought to jail to sober up. That creates an additional burden on jails and drains resources from other parts of law enforcement budgets. Sobering centers can more effectively address challenges related to intoxication.”
+76 Net Effective (88% to 12%): “When someone reaches the point where they’re so intoxicated that they’re being arrested, it’s likely that they have other underlying issues that need to be addressed. If their issues go unaddressed, they’re likely to repeat their behavior and end up back in jail, costing taxpayers valuable law enforcement resources. Sobering centers connect people with the help they need and make cities safer by freeing up law enforcement resources.”
+70 Net Effective (85% to 15%): “Putting people in jail for intoxication is a poor use of law enforcement resources. Every dollar spent processing and jailing someone for intoxication is a dollar that could be better spent by police solving serious crimes. Sobering centers are a more cost-effective way of dealing with intoxication.”
80% Of Voters Support The Creation Of Sobering Centers Where They Live. In addition to exposing participants to a variety of arguments in favor of sobering centers, we also exposed participants to an equal number of arguments in opposition to spending more money on these programs.
After participants heard arguments for and against sobering centers, we asked: “Knowing what you know now about sobering centers, would you support or oppose the creation of sobering centers in the community where you live?”
By a 72-point margin—80% to 8%—voters say they “support” the creation of sobering centers where they live.
These results also reflect broad bipartisan support, including 85% of Democrats and 73% of Republicans who say they “support” the creation of sobering centers where they live.
62% Of Voters Say Local Leaders Should Make Sobering Centers A “High Priority” In Their Public Safety Budgets. After participants heard arguments for and against sobering centers, we also explained that “local governments often balance many competing priorities and very tight public safety budgets.” We then asked: “Given these budget constraints, how should your local city council or county commission prioritize sobering centers?”
By a 50-point margin—62% to 12%—voters say local leaders should make sobering centers a “high priority” in their public safety budgets.
These results also reflect bipartisan majorities, including 71% of Democrats and 53% of Republicans who say local leaders should make sobering centers a “high priority” in their public safety budgets.
