Full circle: Geneseo police helping people after the first response
IMPACT connects people with mental illness, substance use, to treatment and resources
GENESEO, Illinois (KWQC) - A pioneering program in the Geneseo Police Department is having a major impact in the community.
The IMPACT program trains police to not only help people in a mental health or substance crisis, but to get people the help they desperately need long after the police call is over.
That includes everything from resources for treatment to toothbrushes.
Officer Jamie Shoemaker leads the program.
“If we take a father out of the home and put him into an inpatient for treatment, sometimes there’s a bill that might get unpaid,” she said. “If there’s a mother, that’s the single provider, the utility bill, we are able to not only help to support the family to get that person help, but we’re able to do a full circle.”
Shoemaker is receiving a state award for the department’s crisis intervention team.
The program started in 2022 and is now serving as an example for other agencies considering similar programs.
“Our community is small,” Shoemaker said, “but we’re doing big things and we’re helping other communities evolve as well.”
You can help by contributing to the IMPACT program by contacting the Geneseo Police Department at 309-944-5141.
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