AMHERST — The town’s Community Responders for Equity, Safety & Service is one of eight departments across the United States and Canada selected to participate in a virtual program that explores public health and community-centered approaches for handling public safety calls.

Town officials announced last week that the CRESS department, whose four two-person teams hit the streets in September as an unarmed alternative to police, were selected by the Council of State Governments Justice Center, in collaboration with the Center for Policing Equity, to take part in the program, which aims to enhance what are described as “crisis system alternatives.”

The training will involve five two-hour virtual sessions and collaborations with the police, fire and health departments, as well as emergency dispatchers, to develop best practices to enhance CRESS and provide better services to residents.

“We’re honored to join our sister communities in these efforts, and we look forward to turning the lessons learned into meaningful actions,” CRESS Director Earl Miller said in a statement.

CRESS formed out of a push in town to have an anti-racism emergency dispatch alternative for situations that don’t involve violence or serious crimes. Its responders are civilians who provide both emergency and preventive services, with the idea that their work will reduce the number of emergency calls to police.

CRESS will also be working with community partners, such as Clinical and Support Options crisis services and Holyoke Hospital’s Emergency Department.

The CSG Justice Center is a national nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, while Center for Policing Equity’s North Star focuses on protecting, empowering and supporting vulnerable communities, particularly communities of color, by redesigning public safety systems.

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