2 years in, Northampton street teams pursue city’s alternative to policing
NORTHAMPTON – Surrounded by bundled belongings, a man who'd propped himself against a stone slumped over on his side, his face hidden by a hat and sweatshirt hood.
People walked past him. Most had iced coffees in one hand, shopping bags in the other .
On this first week of September, it was postcard Chamber-of-Commerce weather for the Paradise City, but not for the man under the railroad overpass, where Bridge Street turns into Main Street.
Some pedestrians glanced down. Some did not.
But a call had already gone in to the city's Division of Community Care . Responders in matching black shirts from that office approached the man, someone they encounter often, and were ready to offer water, literature about how to get help, perhaps a snack.
They asked the man if he needed help. He waved them off, but they planned to check back.
"We're not enforcement," said Donaven "Don" Gibbs, director of the division. "We are here to help."
Northampton's Division of Community Care marked its two-year anniversary Friday. It was created after a community debate about the nature and limits of policing in the wake of the 2020 murder of George Floyd by police in Minnesota.
To get it started, Northampton used a $450,000 state Equitable Alternatives to Policing Strategies grant in 2022. The goal is to provide civilian responders to address community needs, including peer response to mental health and substance use crises.
The division offers an alternative to a traditional public safety or police response, said Michele Farry, deputy commissioner of the city's Health and Human Services Department.
She believes Northampton's program is unique in that it's run from the public health department, not public safety.
Michele Farry, deputy commissioner of the Northampton Department of Health and Human Services, speaks about the work of the Division of Community Care at her office in Roundhouse Plaza. Sept. 3, 2025. (Douglas Hook / The Republican)Douglas Hook
The division's anniversary arrived as people in Northampton – and elsewhere – feel the strain of a housing crisis. Two weeks ago, Springfield police and deputies with the Hampden Sheriff's Department stepped up their presence in Springfield's Union Station.
The Trump administration is using federal resources to clear the homeless from Washington, D.C.
Farris said that local shelters are full.
Gibbs, the division's director, pointed out that it's still good weather for sleeping outside, but not for long. "It's going to get cold soon," he said.
During the 2024 calendar year, the division engaged with people on its patrols 5,604 times. This included 4,814 visits to the community space – a drop-in center at 1 Roundhouse Plaza offering food, a place to get help or to charge a phone – and 790 phone calls, said Molly Jackson-Watts, a program manager.
Gabriel Gonzalez, right, and Brandon Williams work in Northampton's Division of Community Care as community responders. They patrol the city's streets and respond to calls from the public, to help residents who are in distress. Sept. 4, 2025. (Douglas Hook / The Republican)Douglas Hook
The pace of the division's work is picking up. Between June and the end of August, the division recorded 2,069 visits to its community space and 362 phone calls. During these same summer months, the division received 36 referrals from Northampton Public Safety Dispatch.
Around the city's center, people interviewed about the division's work expressed support.
"I do believe they are having an impact," said Jody Doele, co-worker and marketing manager at Thornes Marketplace, the Main Street retail hub .
Doele said she'd like to see responders with the division out on evening shifts, so they would be a presence during the dining scene and amid after-work shoppers. Farry said the city is applying for grants that might pay for those extended hours.
Thornes gets more than a million visitors a year. "Contrary to what you are hearing, more people are coming into Thornes this year than last year," Doele said. Foot traffic is up 6% year to date, she said.
Doele said business owners are grateful to have someone to call who's not the police. "I do believe in the approach," she said. "They can step into the situation with some knowledge and some history."
Building rapport
That "knowledge" is important to the division's street team. It's called building rapport, said Brandon Williams, a lead responder.
Williams and Gabriel Gonzalez, another lead community care responder, took a reporter and a photographer along on a patrol through downtown Northampton this week. They call it proactive community outreach. They'll hit the pavement any time they can if they are not responding to other calls, sometimes eight or 10 miles a day.
"We wear out a lot of shoes," Gonzalez said.
From the Roundhouse Plaza, they get on the bike path and walk east, crossing Pleasant Street, the head up to the Amtrak station, climbing up onto the active rail line.
There, amid the tracks, they used to find and collect hundreds of discarded hypodermic needles.
Division of Community Care Community Responder Brandon Williams checks the bridge over Main Street in Northampton for discarded needles or other dangerous objects. Sept. 4, 2025. (Douglas Hook / The Republican)Douglas Hook
Today, at least, there are none.
"Once you clean a place up, people won't use it anymore. They feel they are being watched," Gonzalez said.
That's about when Williams and Gonzalez got a call about the man under the overpass, not far off. They stood by while another team spoke with him.
Walking west on Main Street, their interactions with street people are friendly and informal. One woman notices the reporter and photographer and jokes about it being like a school field trip.
A man silently holding a panhandling sign gets a quick nod. The man doesn't like to be seen talking with division workers, Williams said. He doesn't want people to think he's getting help from the city and doesn't actually need their spare change.
"You are scaring away the money," Williams said, describing the man's viewpoint.
But to some merchants, it's the man with the sign who is scaring away the money. Retailers here have long complained that panhandling discourages shoppers from visiting Main Street.
"It's very scary for our customers," said Mischa Roy, owner of home and gift store Spill the Tea Sis on Main Street. "We lost a lot of customers because they are literally not willing to come downtown anymore."
In her view, people on the street who are struggling with mental health and substance abuse problems can be abusive and engage in unsettling behavior.
"That puts a substantial stress on business on Main Street," she said.
Gabriel Gonzalez, left, and Brandon Williams, right, work with a member of the public while on a patrol with the city's Division of Community Care. They respond to calls from the public and try to help residents in distress. Sept. 4, 2025. (Douglas Hook / The Republican)Douglas Hook
Williams and Gonzalez make their way next to Pulaski Park. It's a downtown hotspot and the scene of many concerns and complaints.
Richard Chu lives nearby. "The proliferation of drug use in the park ... it's very obvious," Chu said by phone, when asked for his views. "I've seen people pass out on the ground."
On Aug. 31, a 28-year-old man was found dead downtown, Northampton police said . Police gave the address of City Hall, 240 Main St., a few doors down from the park, as the location of the call.
As Williams and Gonzalez continued their patrol, they found a large group of people congregated in the back of the park. A shirtless man was curled up on a bench. He spoke haltingly, not making much sense.
Gonzalez spoke with him first and got him to sit up. He and Williams then helped the man, who they knew from their rounds, from the bench to a shady spot. They got him some water.
Does it get frustrating, they were asked, seeing the same people again and again — and having resources to offer, but not having people accept help?
Williams said no. "It might be that 50th interaction," he said. "Then they say 'I'm ready.'"
They then met Kowboy, with a K, and Bubbles. Kowboy uses a wheelchair as well as a pseudonym. Bubbles admonishes anyone who uses her real name.
Northampton residents "Bubbles" and "Kowboy" dance and play while watched by Division of Community Care Community Responder Gabriel Gonzalez in Pulaski Park. Sept. 4, 2025. (Douglas Hook / The Republican)Douglas Hook
Kowboy and Bubbles dance a bit. He jokes about taking her out to eat dinner.
Both Williams and Gonzalez laugh along with them. They ask Bubbles if she visited the police station, looking for a lost phone.
She says he has a hard time remembering things.
Stories by Jim Kinney
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