Specialized Policing Responses: Law Enforcement/Mental Health Learning Sites
Jurisdictions across the country are exploring strategies to improve the outcomes of encounters between law enforcement and people with mental illnesses. These efforts took root in the late 1980s, with the emergence of crisis intervention teams (CIT) and co-response models. As a growing number of communities engage in the development of specialized policing responses (SPRs), many grapple with the program design process, and are unsure how to tailor models from other jurisdictions to their own distinct problems and circumstances.
In an effort to expand the knowledge base for law enforcement agencies interested in starting or enhancing a SPR, the Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center, with assistance from a team of national experts and the U.S. Justice Department’s Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), selected six police departments to act as national law enforcement/mental health learning sites. Located across the country, these learning sites represent a diverse cross-section of perspectives and program examples, and are dedicated to helping other jurisdictions across the country improve their responses to people with mental illnesses.
Portland Police Department Total number of agency personnel: 213 Sworn: 160 Civilian: 53 Total population served: 64,000 Jurisdiction and state: Portland, Maine
Program Highlights • Mental health professional embedded in the law enforcement agency • Small city, with nearby rural communities • Co-response model with community-based support network In 1996, the Portland Police Department (PPD) created the mental health police liaison position. Originally, the liaison was a mental health system employee with an office at the police station. Today, the mental health police liaison is located in the crisis unit of the mental health center and a newly funded position—the mental health coordinator—is located at PPD headquarters. These two positions work together on a variety of tasks and responsibilities. First, they serve as mental health co-responders, with the goal of assisting officers as they address individuals who may be in crisis. Second, the liaison and the coordinator provide follow-up to specific mental health consumers who have made, or have been involved in, repeat calls for service to ensure appropriate engagement with social services in the community. Finally, the mental health coordinator cocreated, and now regularly attends, a monthly Community Crisis Providers meeting, in which representatives from relevant agencies in the community work together to address individual cases, as well as systemwide mental health-related issues. In 2001, the PPD collaborated with the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)-Maine to provide Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) training for PPD officers. Although this training was initially voluntary, PPD leadership now mandates that all officers complete the training course. The department also ensures that mental health training is provided to select civilian PPD employees (such as 911 dispatchers).
Along with the Mental Health Police Liaison and Coordinator, PPD CIT officers have a network of contacts they can use depending on the situation. For example, CIT officers may call Cumberland County Crisis Response to provide a mobile crisis outreach team for those individuals who are in crisis and are in need of mental health services, advocacy, and/or support. Additionally, Sweetser, a community-based behavioral healthcare provider, will send a Crisis Response team when a crisis call involves children, and the HOME (Homeless Outreach and Mobile Engagement) team, a local non-profit, co-responds to incidents involving individuals experiencing homelessness. Family Crisis Services have advocates located at PPD who respond to incidents that involve domestic violence. The Community Counseling Center coordinates the Trauma Intervention Program, an often-used team that provides volunteers (within a twenty-minute response time) to a scene to assist officers in the support of those who have witnessed trauma. PPD is greatly appreciative to these organizations for the team approach to providing community support. When there are numerous calls for service, the mental health liaison and coordinator, officers, and case workers will use a team approach to determine the needs and solutions for the most appropriate response for future calls with individuals. Often, PPD CIT officers will attend commitment hearings, treatment planning meetings, and discharge planning meetings to further the continuum of care.
To learn more about the Portland Police Department and their initiatives, contact: Name Jo Freedman, LCPC-C Title Portland Police Department Mental Health Coordinator 109 Middle St. Address Portland, ME 04102 Phone (207) 317-1170 E-mail jfreedman@portlandmaine.gov
To learn more about the Law Enforcement/Mental Health Learning Sites, coordinated by the Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center and supported by the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), visit www.consensusproject.org/learningsites or contact Whitney Kujawa (wkujawa@csg.org/240-482-8577). For more information about law enforcement responses to people with mental illnesses, visit www.consensusproject.org/issue_areas/law-enforcement.
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