CRIME

Police launch team aimed at responding in mental health situations

Erica Pauda A-J Media
The Lubbock Police Department announed their newest unit, the Crisis Intervention Team, on Tuesday morning. [Erica Pauda/A-J Media]

Aiming to break the stigma of mental health issues, the Lubbock Police Department on Tuesday unveiled its recently launched Crisis Intervention team.

Dr. Andy Young, coordinator/negotiator for the victim services unit, said he already has been teaching police officers the state certification needed to become mental health peace officers for about the last eight years.

But now there will be a team dedicated specifically to responding to situations involving people with mental health issues.

The team members' tasks include knowing how to identify mental health conditions, how to de-escalate, how to respond, as well as how to refer people in mental health crises so that they don't automatically go to jail, said Young.

Young said the creation of the crisis team is a way to talk about mental illness, to help break the stigmas of mental health issues.

"Not only should we talk about it, but we should figure out how to address it, and we should be able address it with sophistication," he said.

The Crisis Intervention team will consist of a full-time model unit, including two full-time officers, as well as 30 to 40 officers who are trained and ready to respond when needed, said LPD Asst. Chief Jon Caspell during a Tuesday afternoon presentation at the police department.

Young said the effort and training addresses a definite need.

"There are a lot of people out on the street with a mental health condition," said Young, "and they usually come in contact with law enforcement for one reason or another. Law enforcement is trained to take people to jail. That's not always the best reaction or solution for somebody with a mental health issue."

During the presentation, Caspell added that people with mental health conditions are taken to the Lubbock County Detention Center too often without getting them the help they need.

"(People) go to jail, they'll spend a little time in there," he said. "They may get a little treatment, (then) they're right back out on the streets again (and) there's that revolving door. We're not serving our community well by doing that."

Now that there will be a dedicated unit for the mental health community, this may be a way to circle back with certain individuals to avoid a SWAT callout, said Officer John Willhem with the Crisis Intervention team.

"We'll be available during those hours to mostly support patrol and their efforts to responding to 911 calls," he said. "Those calls are ranging from anybody that's suffering from that mental or behavioral crisis. So hopefully we can show up, help out our patrol officers (and) bring a little bit more resources to those calls so that we can safely take that situation and find a resolution to it that hopefully doesn't involve anything else from law enforcement."

The crisis team aims to successfully find a resolution to the issue that prompted their response then reach out to community partners to help get individuals the help they need in that moment, said Willhelm.

The process of making the crisis team possible took about two years and included attending international conferences with various police departments, as well as other organizations, to learn more about putting a crisis team together, said Willhelm.

"We felt that Lubbock could benefit from a situation like that," he said.