Mental health, substance abuse crises at root of uptick in police callouts in Porter County

A recent spike in calls from the Porter County Sheriff’s Office to high-risk situations has county and local police officers citing a lack of mental health and substance abuse resources as the root of an increase in violent crimes. In just over two weeks, the sheriff’s office’s Emergency Response Team, Crime Scene Investigation Team and Bomb Squad were called in to assist in six serious situations throughout Porter County and neighboring jasper county.

On May 27, ERT was called to the Eagle Crossing apartment complex in Chesterton after a tenant pointed a firearm at two employees of the complex and then barricaded himself inside an apartment. ERT returned to Chesterton on May 31 to assist Chesterton Police Department with an armed subject, followed by an incident on June 10 during which ERT assisted Chesterton Police in Porter with another subject, and finally the June 13 when the Porter County Sheriff’s CSI Team again assisted Chesterton police in a case at the Best Western Hotel where a woman was shot in the face.

“That’s a very strange case, but it turned out that two people (were) going through some mental health issues,” said Chesterton Police Chief Timothy Richardson.

Going into a complex situation in the hotel room, Richardson said he felt the CSI team’s expertise was necessary.

“They are always kind enough to come help us when we need it,” he said.

In between these events, the bomb team assisted Jasper County on May 27 and the ERT responded to Jasper County on June 11.

Cpl. Ben McFalls, public information officer for the Porter County Sheriff’s Office, said this volume of calls to help other police departments is a clear increase from the call he normally gets every month or two.

“We really can’t control whether someone is going through a crisis, and that’s what they are,” McFalls said.

“As we all see in the United States, there has been an increase in violent crime and we are starting to see it in our region as well,” Richardson said. “A lot of police leaders will tell you the same thing, that mental health problems are on the rise and the availability of mental health services is not enough.”

Local efforts to address mental health in Porter County are intensifying. A behavioral health study was recently commissioned and the county is currently in the planning phase to develop a Crisis Intervention Team with the help of the Indiana Office of the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

Marianne Halbert, director of criminal justice for NAMI’s Indiana office, said the process of bringing together law enforcement, mental health providers and other community stakeholders to identify gaps in care, assess measurement of data and providing specialized training takes about a year. and a half.

“The main thing that makes it so successful is the partnership, so people are not so isolated,” he said.

Porter County Sheriff David Reynolds said there needs to be facilities available for long-term mental health stays.

“Look at how big our county is, but we don’t have a (long-term) mental health hospital,” he said, explaining that the Porter County Jail has a $1.3 million contract for mental health services.

“We’ve stuck our heads in the sand when it comes to mental health,” Reynolds said, recalling the closure of several long-term mental health centers across the state in the late ’70s and early ’80s.

He said he is working with the Governor’s Office and state legislators to get more resources for mental health services in Porter County.

“We’re trying to come up with some solutions that we can recommend for the next session,” Reynolds said. “A lot of these people who have mental health issues shouldn’t be in our jail.

“I have probably five people right now in my jail that shouldn’t be there,” he said.

Halbert and leaders at Porter-Starke Services, the largest single organization providing behavioral health care in Porter County that works closely with law enforcement, are concerned about the risk of perpetuating stereotypes of people with mental diseases. She said there can sometimes be an assumption with serious calls that someone with a mental illness must be involved.

“They are much more likely to be victims of crime, not perpetrators of crime,” Halbert said.

She agrees that law enforcement is facing a shortage of available beds for those in need of long-term placement. The 16-bed facility operated by Porter-Starke in Valparaíso is for short stays.

“That’s kind of a chronic frustration for law enforcement and NAMI members. It is difficult to identify enough beds.”

Even if more long-term psychiatric beds become available, law enforcement cannot take a person directly to a state hospital. Halbert said the Indiana Division of Mental Health and Addiction, which is responsible for competency restoration services, is currently conducting a study on how other states handle engagement with such facilities.

Todd Willis, director of community engagement for Porter-Starke, said the simultaneous increases in aggression, mental health problems, particularly depression, and substance abuse problems nationally make it difficult to separate them.

“I think when you look at some of the severe assaults that we’ve seen post-COVID, there’s not necessarily a correlation with mental health, but there is a strong correlation with substance abuse,” he said.

This evaluation fits with the history of the inmates. Reynolds said that statistically 80% of men in prison have a substance abuse problem.

“A jail is kind of a litmus test for your county,” he said.

Reynolds would like Porter County residents and prospective residents to think more about jail residents and the issues they face.

“I think it’s important that they are reminded of what we have in Porter County,” he said. “People are moving to Porter County and why? It is because they feel safe and feel that it is a good place to raise a family. One thing they’re not talking about that I wish they would talk about is our inability to deal with mental health. We are not equipped to deal with people who have mental health problems.”

Willis said three things are hindering this ability to deal with all of the above: low funds and services that prevent a collapse in mental health; jail is not equipped to treat mental illness; and a hole in the support system after those incarcerated are released from jail to make sure they don’t reoffend.

“They get in there and he doesn’t have the resources to treat them,” Willis said. “He doesn’t have therapists, psychiatrists, etc.”

Shelley Jones is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.

Dial 988 for a Lifeline: Starting July 16, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline can be reached for any mental health crisis by simply dialing 988. Before that, Lifeline focused on suicide crises, but in the future will accept calls for any crisis, including substance abuse.