An elderly woman causing a disturbance while experiencing a psychotic episode, an individual whose untreated abscessed tooth led to substance use, a homeless family accused of trespassing. While these situations often prompt calls to police, an alternative response might offer a better solution for law enforcement, the community and the people living them.

LEAD (Law Enforcement Assisted Deflection), a new partnership between the West Columbia Police Department and the S.C. Department of Mental Health, is a community-based alternative to prosecution. Deflection and resources can be offered to people accused of nonviolent low-level offenses whose behavior stems from substance use, mental health challenges or poverty. LEAD was founded in the Pacific Northwest and has expanded to jurisdictions across the country.

West Columbia’s program has been developed and staffed by two alumni of the University of South Carolina’s College of Social Work, Erin Flaxman and Sophie Sumpter.

“You don't always have to arrest someone. LEAD offers other options to address the root causes of behavior, as opposed to putting someone in jail and encouraging the cycle to go on,” says program coordinator Erin Flaxman (2024 master’s, social work). “If we can address some of those issues and provide resources, we can improve the community and create a more inclusive and safe space.”

Nearly half of the 37,000 calls for help the police department gets every year are related to mental health or substance use. West Columbia is one of only six agencies in South Carolina, including larger jurisdictions such as Richland County and Myrtle Beach, with a LEAD program, according to Police Chief Marion Boyce.

Boyce says building community health decreases crime. He works toward that goal through partnerships with organizations such as Uplift Lexington and Serve & Connect as well as with initiatives such as the police department’s Outreach Program.

“We look for ways that we can better serve the citizens here. When I took an oath 18 years ago at West Columbia, it was to serve people; it wasn't to lock people up. Of course, that happens. It’s part of this profession. But I'm more interested in how we positively impact community, how we positively serve people, and how can we reduce our law enforcement contacts within community,” says Boyce, who has been chief for three years.

The department is building the focus on community health with the newly established LEAD program funded by a grant from the S.C Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services. Social workers Flaxman and Sumpter are employed by the state Department of Mental Health and embedded in the West Columbia Police Department. Through another partnership with the state department, West Columbia and Cayce police share an embedded mental health clinician to address community needs specific to mental health and or substance use.

Flaxman, an Atlanta native, and Sumpter, who is from North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, share an interest in the intersection of social work and law enforcement. Sumpter, the LEAD case coordinator, says her personal experience with a family history of substance use drew her to the position. Her mother is also a social worker.

Before being hired to implement the LEAD program, both Flaxman and Sumpter completed a field work internship with the police department’s Outreach Program. The program allows officers to deescalate a situation and then refer the cases to social work graduate students for assessment and referral to appropriate services within the community.

“I’m interested in working with a dual diagnosis population of mental health and substance use,” says Sumpter (2024 master’s, social work), who has a graduate certificate in drug and addiction studies. “Through our field placement as students, we were doing work to launch the Outreach Program on a more macro level. When the grant came through for LEAD, it made perfect sense to apply to develop and coordinate this program.”

Before implementing LEAD, groundwork had to be laid with other agencies such as the solicitor’s officer, the detention center and the sheriff’s department. Because the program is not prevalent in South Carolina or in the Southeast, Boyce, Flaxman and Sumpter basically built their own roadmap for how to fit community needs in West Columbia.

Boyce says the work ethic and drive they exhibited during their internship made Flaxman and Sumpter excellent candidates to lead the effort.

“I like to call social work and law enforcement a great marriage,” Boyce says. “There’s a lot of intersectionality. But it takes a special person to come into a police department who's not a police officer and doesn’t think like one to be able to relate and communicate with officers. I saw that in Erin and Sophie.”

As LEAD program coordinator, Flaxman writes policies, develops training, tracks data and serves as a liaison with other community partners. Sumpter works with clients and maintains a resource network. Clients – who so far have been mainly individuals in need of services or resources – are referred by police officers but also by the community and partnering organizations. As awareness grows about the program, they’ve also worked with walk-in clients.

“Often, it’s someone our officers come in contact with, but it’s not a law enforcement situation. They may be experiencing mental health issues or homelessness,” Sumpter says. “The officers will ask us to help them connect to resources. For example, there was a domestic violence situation, and we were able to place a young woman and her baby in a family shelter. In other cases, we connect clients to food or clothing resources. We may work with veterans if officers respond to a mental health crisis related to PTSD and help them find resources at the VA.”

In September, they’ll roll out the arrest deflection program for nonviolent low-level offenders whom police officers believe would be good candidates for intervention – specifically individuals who are dealing with mental health and substance use issues. Flaxman and Sumpter will do a biopsychosocial assessment, meet with the client to build rapport and recommend resources. If the client meets the criteria and agrees to be part of the LEAD program, charges will be voided, and they’ll receive case management for as long as they need it.

“An arrest record can affect a person’s life long-term,” Boyce says. “If we can offer services pre-arrest, we can give someone a second chance to become a beneficial member of society and help them be a better version of themselves. That, in turn, increases community health, which decreases crime.”

Boyce emphasizes that people charged with felonies or violent crimes are not eligible for LEAD: “If you break the law, we still have a job to do. I am saying that we can do both. We can invest in community, and we can hold people accountable when they break the law.”

Flaxman and Sumpter are grateful for how the program has been received by the community and by the police officers.

“Our officers love this program,” Flaxman says. “They follow up and see how our clients are doing. It's really exciting to see how involved they are.”

Adds Sumpter: “The relationship we have with the officers is an important part of the success of the program. If we can help manage the number of calls they’re sent on that really aren’t law enforcement situations, we can reduce their caseload and stress.”

While it is based in the police department, it’s called the WeCo LEAD program because it’s an initiative to serve the community.

“Our biggest impact is the relationship we have with clients,” Flaxman says. “We let them know someone cares, and the police department isn’t just about sending people to jail. If we hit a dead end or can’t solve a problem, we can listen and brainstorm and strategize to try to overcome obstacles because it really can be a new obstacle every day for some of our clients.”