What you need to know
In February, League City Police Department launched a mental health response unit to be able to respond to calls involving a person experiencing a mental health crisis.
Months later, the police department is calling the program a success. About 10% of people—or 25 individuals—encountered following a mental health call have been diverted from being taken to jail to being taken to a mental health care facility since the program launched in February, Lt. Andrew Gilbertson said.
“We had an idea that it was going to be successful to begin with, just because of the need within the community,” Sgt. Kierstyn Portis said. “But to see the response that we’re getting and to see how well it’s flourishing on a day-to-day basis has been fantastic.”
The unit hopes to bring on two new paramedics and additional police officers during the next fiscal year, Gilbertson said.
Portis said she’s been reassured by how members of the community are more open to interactions with the mental health officers. She said she thinks the officer’s uniforms, which more closely resemble plain clothes, help to set those individuals at ease.
Through the program, the officers are able to connect people experiencing a mental health crisis to both short- and long-term intensive care at the Gulf Coast Center and other local resources, such as churches and Alcoholics Anonymous.
The Gulf Coast Center offers mental health services to people in Galveston County. Cities throughout the county have relied on the center to provide mental health services, such as counseling, follow-up care and finding safe housing.
The team also uses unmarked vehicles, which Portis said helps protect the privacy of the individuals her team encounters.
“You don’t have the stigma of, ‘Hey, why is an officer sitting in front of so and so’s address again,’” Portis said.
What else?
The most common cases the unit encounters are people dealing with suicidal ideation or psychosis, Portis said.
Portis said a big part of what the unit does is follow-ups after the team responds to an initial call to make sure someone is checking in on the individual weekly. Her team has conducted 982 follow-up calls since February.
Portis said often it’s family members and caregivers of the individual who are more responsive to the team’s outreach than the individual who is experiencing the mental health crisis.
Portis said she feels empowered to help people dealing with mental health crises in a way she wasn’t able to before the unit was created.
Looking ahead
Community Impact previously reported the police department applied for a $218,000 U.S. Department of Justice grant, but was denied, Gilbertson said.
Gilbertson added the department applied for another $300,000 grant from the Bureau of Justice and is still being considered for those funds, which he said could be used to purchase additional unmarked vehicles for the unit.
If approved for the additional grant, funding would be awarded in October, Gilbertson said.
