By Robert Salonga
The Contra Costa Times
CONCORD, Calif. — For police officers and deputies in Contra Costa County, responding to a call involving a mentally ill person might seem like an occasional encounter on the job.
Far from it. Nowadays, it’s about as common as a burglary or robbery call, if not more so, according to the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office. With the help and expertise of clinical psychologists, the agency on Thursday capped a four-day session at the Concord Hilton training first responders and police on how to confront, speak with and help mentally ill people they meet in the field.
A shortage of mental health facilities and resources has left many suffering from afflictions on the street and fending for themselves. Law enforcement might not be the ultimate answer, but they are the ones called when there is a problem, hence the need for the training, said sheriff’s Lt. Mitch Lemay.
“We teach how to de-escalate situations and keep them out of jail as much as possible,” Lemay said.
Dubbed “Crisis Intervention Team” training, the week’s events were the fourth series of panels and simulations sponsored by the Sheriff’s Office and backed by state grant funding from the Mental Health Services Act, passed in 2004 to bolster local mental health programs.
The sessions include tutorials by psychology and law enforcement experts, and in the case of San Rafael Officer Joel Fay, someone with expertise in both fields.
As part of the training, teams of officers and deputies are sequestered and then thrust into a simulated encounter with a disguised mental health specialist impersonating the mannerisms of an afflicted person, in this case one with paranoid schizophrenia.
On Thursday, using what they’ve learned leading up to the session, two deputies spoke with the man, trying to calmly keep him from threatening them and also trying not to appear threatening themselves. After the simulation, Martha Wilson, a clinical psychologist who spearheads the training, led a panel of police from several county agencies — along with BART officers and paramedics — in a group critique of the response.
Wilson also heads the county’s Martinez-based Behavior Health Court, which combines the efforts of police, courts and mental health services to find services for those who are nonviolent but whose mental illness can eventually arouse the attention of authorities. The long-term plan, she said, is to create specialized teams of psychologists and police whose sole job is to address these types of calls.
"(Officers) deal with this in the streets every day,” Wilson said. “We want to create an increasing level of sensitivity and awareness of what mental illness is.”
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