FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Updated August 19, 2025

NJVIP Demands Release of Crisis
Response Dollars Amid Deadly Delays

On August 18th the New Jersey Violence Intervention and Prevention Coalition (NJVIP), a statewide network of programs that do Community based Violence Intervention, released the following statement in response to the tragic police killing of New Brunswick elder Deborah Terrell.

NJVIP played a critical role in getting the Seabrooks-Washington Community-led Crisis Response Act signed into law back in January of 2024.

The bill calls for the piloting of community-led crisis response teams as an alternative to police responding to mental crisis challenges. The bill designated five counties to pilot the programs including Middlesex County. However, no funds have yet to be released to any of the grantees due to unwarranted bureaucratic red tape, the Coalition asserts.

Terrell's death marks another episode of someone being killed by the police who should have been able to be helped.

Here is the full NJVIP statement below...

On August 11, 2025, 68-year-old grandmother Deborah Terrell, a 5-foot, 120-pound woman, was pepper sprayed, tased, and then shot dead by New Brunswick police during a mental health crisis in her senior building. 

Her killing is exactly why NJVIP fought for the Seabrooks-Washington Community-Led Crisis Response Act, which promised resources for these exact situations. Yet a year later, the Attorney General has still not released the funds. 

This is the fourth fatal shooting of its kind since the bill was introduced in 2023 and while Middlesex County grieves the loss of Deborah Terrell, residents in Newark, Trenton, Paterson, Camden, and Jersey City also remain unprotected, still waiting for the resources they were promised. Law enforcement is not a mental health response. 

Every day the funds sit idle brings the risk of another preventable death. 

NJVIP demands Attorney General Platkin release the funds without further delay and ensure community-led crisis response is fully in place before another life is lost.

Follow NJVIP on Instagram @njvip_coalition and their webpage NJVIP Coalition...