When someone living with a mental illness is in crisis — when they need some kind of intervention — it’s often best handled by a clinician rather than law enforcement.
Use-of-force experts say the mere presence of a police officer or sheriff’s deputy can increase the potential danger for all involved — and such encounters can turn deadly.
The Los Angeles Police Department, like many in the country, trains its officers in de-escalation tactics, but shootings continue despite efforts to provide alternative response teams that include psychiatrists. According to a LAist analysis of LAPD data, 31% of people shot by police since 2017 were identified by officers as having some kind of mental illness or being in crisis.
Every city in Los Angeles County has a psychiatric emergency team, but the team’s composition and approach vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.
In both the City and County of Los Angeles, it’s difficult to keep track of the different types of alternate response teams that are called in to respond when someone is in crisis. Here’s a breakdown of the teams available:
City of Los Angeles: Unarmed Crisis Response Pilot Program
City Partnering with three local non-profit organizations Three organizations – Exodus Recovery, The Olcott Center and The Penny Lane Center – will provide two response teams in each of three service areas across Los Angeles. The teams will operate 24/7 within the Police Department’s Devonshire, Wilshire and Southeast service areas.
The team will be dispatched from the 911 call center when appropriate.
Crisis workers are trained in de-escalation techniques, mental health, substance use and conflict resolution. According to a report from the City Administrator’s Office.They do not have the power to order psychiatric detention of people in crisis, but they can try to find and follow up with local help where appropriate.
City of Los Angeles: Community-Led Initiative for Crisis and Incident Response (CIRCLE)
CIRCLE Program, Run by the non-profit organization Urban Alchemyis a team of experienced mental health professionals and staff who respond to non-violent incidents involving homeless people.
The idea is to take the strain off police from so-called “quality of life” calls, such as trespassing and loitering, by having the team answer thousands of hotline calls to the nonprofit each month on behalf of the police.
Last year, Mayor Karen Bass I got it. CIRCLE launched in Hollywood and Venice in 2022 and has since expanded to Downtown Los Angeles, South Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley.
The public can reach CIRCLE through the non-emergency number at (877) 275-5273 or (877) ASK-LAPD. Select the non-emergency call option.
City of Los Angeles: SMART Units
The two-person team, which falls under the police department’s Psychiatric Evaluation Unit, is made up of an LAPD officer and a clinician from the county’s Department of Mental Health. The team works with patrol officers to respond to mental health-related calls whenever possible.
Officers already in the field can call on the SMART unit if they feel the person they’re making contact with is suffering from a mental illness or in crisis. SMART stands for Systemwide Mental Assessment Response Team, which responded to “just under a third” of mental health-related calls in 2022, according to police department records. LAPD officials say the program has historically struggled to hire enough clinicians to meet demand.
LA County: Psychiatric Mobile Response Team
If you call your county mental health department directly and request help for someone in crisis, you’ll likely be served by this two-person clinician team. They won’t show up armed. But if a person in crisis is in psychiatric custody and doesn’t want to receive treatment, the clinicians may ask police for assistance.
To access services and support from the Mental Health Department, call (800) 854-7771. If you are experiencing a mental health, substance abuse or suicide crisis, you can call or text 988.
LA County Sheriff’s Psychiatric Evaluation Team
The sheriff’s psychiatric evaluation team is made up of two people: a sheriff’s deputy and a clinician from the Department of Mental Health. The team is specially trained to de-escalate mental health crises.
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One of my goals in the mental health field is to make the seemingly unmanageable mental health care system more manageable.
