A newly created Montgomery County initiative to battle public inebriation in Langley Park and Silver Spring has handled 831 incidents in its first six months.

The Public Inebriate Initiative Team, which started in March, drives around Long Branch, Crossroads, Takoma Park and Silver Spring looking for public intoxication between 2 p.m. and midnight Monday through Saturday.

The two-person team checks the health and safety of the individuals. It offers counseling and transportation to a home, hospital or treatment center. The team also refers people to the police, a hospital or sobering beds for overnight treatment, Mike Schappell, a supervisory therapist for the Department of Human Services’ Behavioral Health and Crisis Services, told a Montgomery County Council panel Thursday.

The majority of the incidents occurred in the Long Branch, Crossroads and Takoma Park areas and have been 85 percent Hispanic. Ten percent of the cases were black, and nearly all, 96 percent, have involved men.

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But council members expressed concern about the long-term treatment of individuals with abuse problems. Of the 831 incidents, 28 people sought out sobering beds and only nine opted for longer-term treatment.

“I am not sure in the long run that this will do anything more than take people off the street temporarily,” Health and Human Services Committee member Duchy Trachtenberg said.

The program has met its secondary purpose of making the streets more pleasant and livable, said Erwin Mack of the Takoma/Langley Crossroads Development Authority Inc.

“We hope you’ll continue this great program,” Mack said. He said the areas have seen fewer incidents of public urination, pandering and begging for food since the initiative began.

The program’s main goals are to improve quality of the target neighborhoods, as well as provide treatment for the publicly intoxicated.

The primary reason for intervention is public inebriation, but the team has also been involved in cases of public safety and homelessness. This winter, the team also will perform outreach to prevent hypothermia deaths. Six people died last winter in Montgomery County from hypothermia. Most were intoxicated.