The Miami-Dade Police Department is proposing a new unit dedicated to mental health calls, and officers believe it could increase security and some say even save lives.
Earlier this week, police shot and killed Matthew Hyde after he set fire to a Hollywood home following an hour-long standoff.
“That was all he did was help people,” said Kaylor Green, Hyde’s girlfriend. “That was all he did.”
Hyde was a veteran and suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder in addition to having a brain injury. Green said he struggled with his mental health and was never able to get the help he needed.
Now, some are wondering if a unit like this could have saved it.
On Wednesday, the Broward County Sheriff’s Office received a call from a man threatening to kill multiple people. When detectives arrived, they found the 36-year-old man at the Hollywood home threatening law enforcement on social media.
BSO says three licensed mental health trained negotiators were on scene and tried to de-escalate the situation using non-lethal methods.
Negotiators worked for more than 16 hours, but Hyde refused to cooperate and became more combative, deputies said. He threw Molotov cocktails at the SWAT officers and eventually set the house on fire.
Miami-Dade Police’s proposed new program would have a team that would receive special training and work closely with behavioral health professionals to de-escalate situations and get people the care they need.
In addition to having mental health training, officers would have trained and licensed behavioral health professionals at the 911 call center, so mental health help would start from the moment someone answers the phone.
There is no way of knowing what impact the unit would have had in this case, but Green said this unit could have saved her boyfriend.
“This is a very good solution,” he said. “This would have helped a lot.”
The mental health unit still needs county approval. Meanwhile, the shooting remains under investigation.
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