New Program Can Transform Potentially Volatile Interactions Between Police and Those With Mental Health Needs

In San Jose, a new program has been created to help people with mental health issues called the Post Crisis Intervention (PCI). Often when a person is experiencing mental health problems someone calls the police to report unusual behavior that is considered threatening to the person in question or others. Resulting calls to the San Jose Police Department for evaluation of such situations can result in possible transport to a mental health facility for further evaluation by mental health professionals. Many of these calls don't end with the police transporting someone to a facility, because at the time the person who's mental state that is in question, does not meet the criteria for further evaluation. Their symptoms may have lessened between the time a call was eventually decided to be made and the police were able to respond. This doesn't mean that they are not in need of mental health care, they just don't fit the requirements to be taken in for evaluation at the moment.

Having been a mental health client of the Santa Clara County for over 20 years I am encouraged by the push to lessen the adverse contact between the police and the mentally ill. Knowing that the police are usually in contact with us when we are having our worse symptoms, I understand that it is difficult for them or anyone else to deal with us.

I became a participant in the Learning Advisory Committee for the PCI program through an application I filled out at De-Bug. I’m a De-Bug volunteer and participating in the LAC is an extension of that contributing. My hope is this program will continue to catch on and that many people will fill out the cards so they can be connected to treatment for their illness. The county has done a great job of helping me with my bi-polar illness. I think they can do a lot for others. It’s just a matter of making the connection that has been missing for so many.

And I can speak personally as to both the need and potential of this program. In late 2003 I had a symptomatic time where I was in a mental state of paranoia. Earlier in the day I had a verbal disagreement with a neighbor over a car being parked on the sidewalk. They called the SJPD about me and an officer came to my door and asked to take me to the mental hospital. I said no. Later that day, overcome with paranoia, I thought that everyone, including the police, were out to do me harm. Having had years of experience of being ill, I called 911 and said I would go to the hospital. Several police arrived and then the officer from earlier that day came. I was put in handcuffs and asked simple question such as did I have my medication on me. I did have it in my pocket but answer no and continued to answer questions the same way, opposite of the truth. I was then shoved into the wall of the house and side of the police car. Another officer who was there said they would just say I slipped. I was intimidated and said nothing about this incident for years. Possibly, if the PCI card had been available to me, I could have filled it out and had a mental health worker contact me instead of a police officer.

Until now many would not seek out care on their own or by family, typically, because a lack of knowledge that care is provided by Santa Clara County. Mental illness -- it's varying degrees of symptoms -- can make it hard for even professionals to pin down sometimes. So what has happened in the past is people in need of help have not been connected to the mental health care that is available. Consequentially, the police in these situations have had to be called repeatedly to interact with the same person. This puts a strain on the police departments resources and in the past repeated calls have sometimes resulted in conflicts with the police, physically, such as tasing or shooting a person who is considered a threat possibly due to mental illness being mistaken for criminal intentions.

To end this cycle of repeated calls to the police a new program in San Jose is at work, it is called Post Crisis Intervention (PCI). Now, at the time of contact, the police have a card they can give to a person and/or their family members, who have been contacted and not found an immediate need of professional evaluation. The card can be filled out with a persons contact information and brief situation information. It refers them to the PCI who can give advice and assistance to connect to the county mental health services. Filling out the card is completely optional. But for those who do fill it out the card, PCI can help a lot because they are not only well trained in working with the mentally ill they are also bilingual in Spanish and English, Vietnamese and English. Past repeated interactions with the police have sometimes been with people whose first language is not English. This barrier is broken down with follow up by the PCI team who are people from the Latino and Vietnamese communities that can not only speak their first language but understand the social and cultural situation around mental illness in their communities.

So far there have been a promising number of people who have filled out the card and received follow up care. The intervention team, which responds in person with the person in need of care or their family members within 24 hours can connect them with counseling. The team members have a background in mental health work, are trained specifically in evaluating and assisting people who may be in need of help. If a person is considered to need mental health care they are then given a "warm hand off", the team stays in contact with the person until a connection has been made, to professional counselors and psychiatrists who can give treatment over the long term.

The program is funded by tax dollars specifically raised to help those with mental health needs. This is a completely new program that hasn't been tried before. The PCI program helps the mentally ill find services that would otherwise be overlooked. It has been at work for 3 1/2 months. During this time details of the program have been worked on. Adjustments have been made to increase the ability of the PCI to refer people, in need of evaluations, to mental health professionals, in order to better assist them when a crisis has occurred after the original contact.

For those people who have been connected to care there is the reasonable expectation that they will need less contact with the police because of help received from the counties mental health programs. Also, if a person who is receiving treatment has a police call made about their unusual behavior the PCI can help make connections with their current care providers furthering their care in a time of crisis. The program seems promising and a help to both those in need of counseling, lessening the burden on the San Jose Police Department, and ultimately reducing the potentially lethal interactions that occur between police and those who need mental health support.