This paper on co-response and homelessness is a research summary of the SEPTA Transit Police SAVE Experiment.
In this brief summarizing the SEPTA Transit Police SAVE Experiment, researchers test the benefit of adding an outreach specialist to a dedicated police team tasked with helping the vulnerable community in the transit system move to treatment or shelter. With the outcome of getting vulnerable people (mainly people experiencing homelessness) to accept transportation to a shelter or treatment facility, the co-responder model did not significantly outperform the effect of specially trained police officers working independently of the outreach specialist. For a year, officer shifts were randomized to determine when they were accompanied by an outreach specialist. In total, 158 in-depth treatment conversations regarding treatment or shelter with 165 vulnerable people were assessed for whether they were subsequently transported to a suitable facility. Data indicated that the likelihood of an individual in a treatment conversation with a specialist and a police officer being transported to a facility was 29 percent greater than the likelihood for an individual talking with only a police officer; however, this finding was not statistically significant.