Mental Illness

People in mental crisis present challenges — to law enforcement as well as hospitals — and too often fall between the cracks

The social worker identified his attacker as a dangerous man who had tried to kill a Holyoke police officer years before

Mayor Libby Schaaf criticized the council's action, saying it effectively "cuts "50 police officers who respond to Oaklanders' 911 calls"

A mental health professional acting as an on-scene consultant to police officers can reduce the likelihood of the situation escalating to violence

The cop-crafted scenarios and varied outcomes offered by VirTra help officers practice making decisions in real time to develop more effective de-escalation tactics

Reality-based scenarios can help improve communication techniques to reduce use of force in calls involving people in emotional distress

Officers who use simulation training programs are more confident, use less force

The specially trained teams, which consist of both cops and mental health clinicians, are asking for more officers

“What we heard from the community is there's an opportunity to actually bring some relief to the officers and what they have to do in the community."

Tech-facilitated improvements in coordination, collaboration and communication enable officers to deliver a more effective and safer response

The court framed its task as determining not whether officers used best police practices but whether they violated the subject's rights under the Fourth Amendment

LEOs often interact with the same mentally ill individuals again and again. Here are three solutions for breaking the cycle.

BART Senior Officer Eric Hofstein has spent years patrolling downtown stations, trying to assist people in crisis

“The counselors give us more tools to use, so we get the best possible outcome.”

Court ruled the officers had probable cause to detain the subject for his own safety and the legal power to use reasonable force to accomplish that detention