Gwinnett police to dramatically expand behavioral health unit

GWINNETT COUNTY – When you call the Gwinnett County Police for help, you may get more than one officer to respond.

the department said Channel 2’s Tony Thomas which is expanding its behavioral health unit. The goal is to have a mental health worker help the police calm people in crisis.

The unit is one year old and is currently made up of two officers and two health doctors. But soon it will grow to 12 and 24 hour coverage.

Supporters say it is already making a difference.

“In February we responded to a male that was on a roof,” said Gwinnett County Police Cpl. Tracey Reed. “Paj (Mahdavi) was the only one where he said, ‘Okay, come here. I trust you.”

Reed and clinical health social worker Mahdavi brought the crisis to a peaceful end. He points to that situation as one of the main reasons Gwinnett’s behavioral health unit is expanding from two teams to six.

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By the end of this month, the unit will be staffed seven days a week, reportedly by far the largest unit in the region.

“I hope more people get more treatment and access to care. I hope it will reduce the stigma of mental health,” Mahdavi said.

Over the past year, Reed and Mahdavi have responded to dozens of calls, including the gundog situation last March.

Reed said the biggest impact so far is more time for follow-ups.

“Because we have more time. When we have an officer responding to a 911 crisis call, he is there to see what I can do to resolve this issue at this time. They may not be able to go that long,” Reed said.

Ultimately, Reed and others hope to have teams based at the 911 call center and potentially even work with the fire department on calls.

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