Law enforcement is a tough job, in many aspects, but one particular aspect—interacting with mentally ill civilians (who may be acting extremely erratically)—should be getting a little easier. A group has been started to assist officers interacting with the mentally ill, the “Mental Health Squad.”
The squad consists of one sergeant and six officers, who will work flexible and strategic schedules that align with the days/time of day when Phoenix PD see the most mental health incidents. NAMI Arizona shows that the Phoenix Police Department handles about 4,000 mental health incidents per year.
Phoenix Police Commander Matt Giordano explains, “It is our job to maintain calmness, and that will translate to the person in crisis and help them remain calm.” The Phoenix Mental Health Squad was influenced by similar programs in Los Angeles, San Diego and Houston.
This organization comes in some part as a result of highly publicized police violence in 2015, including the killing of mental patient, Erik Tellez. When authorities tried to communicate with Tellez, a known mental patient, he started shooting. One officer was shot in the shoulder, and Tellez was killed. Could this incident have been handled in a different way? Definitely. Perhaps if the Mental Health Squad was on the scene, they could have calmed down Mr. Tellez and gotten him the psychiatric help that was clearly needed.
