The East Lansing Police Department's Community Engagement Team consists of non-sworn police social workers and neighborhood resource specialists.
The team’s two full-time police social workers are Amber Teunis and Maria Medina, both of whom began working for ELPD in late 2020. Teunis and Medina are working closely with ELPD’s sworn police officers to provide crisis intervention, conflict resolution, short-term counseling and community outreach to those in the community requiring social services. They are available to provide support services to community members who may be struggling with a mental health crisis, substance abuse, housing instability or traumas, such as sexual or physical assault. Additionally, Teunis and Medina will be providing in-house training to ELPD’s sworn officers on topics that can help the officers better serve the community.
The team's four part-time neighborhood resource specialists include Tonya Williams, Sudesna Paul, Yutaka Benson and Amanda Volker. The neighborhood resource specialists will be working to address quality of life issues in the East Lansing community, such as repeat noise complaints, non-emergency disputes among neighbors and other issues. This group will also take on important community engagement roles with ELPD, serving as mask ambassadors in downtown East Lansing and serving as liaisons between the department and neighborhood associations, community groups and businesses.
The team's supervisors are Lt. Scot Sexton, who can be reached at (517) 319-6916, and Sgt. Adam Park, who can be reached at (517) 319-6834.
