It's Time To Add 'Mental Health Officers' to Police Departments Nationwide

People carrying guns, with a virtual license to kill, are experiencing mental health issues, they are not getting the help they need, and they are the first responders to an overwhelming number of emergency mental health calls nationwide. Couple mental health issues with a culture that is highly pro-escalation of force and that's a recipe for disaster. The vast majority of cops are minimally trained on dealing with mental illness and ill-equipped to handle mental health issues. The Treatment Advocacy Center in 2014 published an analysis of police shooting data (1980-2008) - and concluded that “at least half of the people shot and killed by police each year in this country have mental health problems.”

Here's a chilling excerpt from a recent Men's Health article (https://www.menshealth.com/health/a20944664/police-officer-suicide-rate-mental-health/): "Several current and former law enforcement officers nationwide told MensHealth.com (many under the condition of anonymity, for fear of reprisal within their departments) that reaching out for help can be a loaded process. Many are haunted by the pervasive fear that undergoing treatment will have professional repercussions, such as them being passed over for promotions or removed from patrol work on the street."

I'm going to propose something radical.

Mental Health Officers without guns should be the first responders to non-violent mental health calls, not police. They should evaluate a situation and make the decision about whether or not police should be brought in as backup. And when those Mental Health Officers aren't out on calls, they should be tending to the mental health needs of peace officers and the community members that have been traumatized by police-involved violence.

In Santa Monica, where I moved back to in 2016 partly because the police culture there is community collaboration oriented, there are Peace Officers and there are Community Service Officers. According to the Santa Monica PD website, Community Services Officers (CSOs) handle complex reports and respond to a variety of calls for service city-wide freeing up patrol officers to respond to crimes in progress and other emergency calls for service. The system works, but I believe there's still one vital piece missing -- Mental Health Officers. For a city like Santa Monica, with a large homeless population, this would take a tremendous strain off of the police and help many more who are mentally ill to get the help they need.

America would benefit greatly from a system of Peace Officers, Community Service Officers and Mental Health Officers. Add a solid Chaplain system to that and you've got a sturdy 4-legged stool to support all of the peace-keeping needs of the community. The needs of the community would be met holistically, and everyone, including the police, would become healthier and safer.

Share if you agree.

Watch my award-winning film, WALKING WHILE BLACK: L.O.V.E. Is The Answer, endorsed by Law Enforcement Action Partnership and the Fellowship of Christian Peace Officers, to learn more about how mental health issues affect policing in America and some more great ideas on how to fix it. https://vimeo.com/ondemand/wwb3dayrental

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