Law Enforcement Responses for People Who Have Mental Health Needs

Hosted by The Council of State Governments Justice Center with funding support from the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance

Increasingly, law enforcement officers are called on to be the first, and often the only, responders to calls involving people who have mental health needs. To begin tackling that challenge, The Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center released the Police-Mental Health Collaboration (PMHC) framework to help law enforcement agencies across the country better respond to the growing number of calls for service they receive involving this population. In this webinar, presenters discuss six questions that law enforcement executives should consider when developing or enhancing PMHCs in their jurisdiction and share practical approaches that have been implemented in the field. The six questions are:

• Is our leadership committed?
• Do we have clear policies and procedures to respond to people who have mental health needs?
• Do we provide staff with quality mental health and stabilization training?
• Does the community have a full array of mental health services and supports for people who have mental health needs?
• Do we collect and analyze data to measure the PMHC against the four key outcomes?
• Do we have a formal and ongoing process for reviewing and improving performance?

Presenters:

• Maria Fryer, Justice System and Corrections Policy Advisor for Substance Abuse and Mental Health, Bureau of Justice Assistance, U.S. Department of Justice
• Terence Lynn, Deputy Division Director, Law Enforcement, Behavioral Health Division, The Council of State Governments Justice Center
• Sergeant Sarah Shimko, Madison Police Department
• Sergeant Jason Winsky, Mental Health Support Team, Tucson Police Department