NASHVILLE, TN (WSMV) – Mental health experts met today to discuss the expansion of the MNPD program that helps treat people with mental health problems. Metro Police started the Partners in Care pilot program, where officers drive with mental health counselors.
On Thursday, police officers and 911 dispatchers admit a counselor could have changed the outcome that led to Landon Eastep’s death. So why were there no counselors on the scene last week?
The Mental Health Cooperative said it’s because they only have six mental health doctors in the program and two of them are part-time. It’s small right now, only at the MNPD North and Hermitage campuses. Mental health advocates say the program needs to grow.
In body camera video from an MNPD officer, a group of nine police officers are seen pointing their guns at Landon Eastep. What is not seen? A mental health expert.
“This is what it looks like when you don’t know how to deal with mental health issues,” the attorney, Joy Kimbrough, said at a news conference last week. “This is the result; This is what you get.”
It’s a criticism Eastep’s widow, Chelesy Eastep, also notes.
“You have shields, you have tasers, you have rubber bullets or bean bags, you have dogs,” Chelesy Eastep said. “And if you see someone struggling with his mental health, the first thing you shouldn’t do is not point your gun.”
“It’s the right resource at the right time and certainly last week’s incident underscores the importance of this work,” says Dia Cirillo, senior policy advisor for Metro Nashville.
Right now, a police officer and a mental health counselor are responding to calls together at the North and Hermitage police stations. Dispatchers at the Emergency Communications Center know that must change.
“I think in the last week or so we’ve had an opportunity to reflect on what other types of qualifying services may be eligible, specific to the incident that happened a week ago,” said Emergency Communications Center Director Stephen Martini.
That’s why advocates want to expand the program beyond the two campuses.
“If we get a backup request from a neighboring incident or a neighboring agency requesting a service, we could look to a joint mental health response unit to respond to calls like this,” Martini explained.
The numbers show that it works. In the last seven months, mental health clinicians responded to 1,500 incidents. 800 of those incidents involved someone with a mental health crisis and only a small fraction (2.2%) required officers to use force.
These are calls to which the MNPD officer Gabriel Centeno responds.
“Showing up with someone, not in a police uniform helps,” says Centeno. “People have all kinds of different interactions with police officers, sometimes a uniform is disarming.”
Chief John Drake announced last week that he plans to soon expand the Partners in Care program to the Midtown and Central campuses.
The Partners in Care program was previously approved for a one-year pilot and received more than $560,000 in federal funds allocated during the pandemic.
NASHVILLE, TN (WSMV) – Metro Police Chief John Drake announced Friday afternoon that the Metro Nashville Police Department has dismantled…
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