The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office announced an effort Monday that would allow sheriff’s deputies to work proactively with mental health professionals.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — On Monday, Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris and Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner, Jr. announced a new effort that will put trained mental health professionals in the field with Shelby County Sheriff’s deputies.
The sheriff’s office (SCSO) said this will allow embedded clinicians to work alongside the Sheriff’s Crisis Intervention Team to provide mental health treatment to those in crisis, instead of sending them to jail.
According to the US Department of Justice, one in five Americans is affected by mental illness each year, and distress calls involving mental illness require 87% more time and resources for the responding agency.
The SCSO said that in addition to jointly responding with CIT-trained officers, mental health professionals will proactively work with community health and service providers to connect residents with services that address their mental illness and reduce the likelihood that they should call back when they are distressed.
“The pandemic has made it even clearer that our community needs to focus on addressing mental health,” said Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris. “This effort to integrate mental health professionals with our first responders will help divert people in crisis to the help they need. and reduce your reliance on 9-1-1 distress calls. I applaud Sheriff Bonner and his team for their continued commitment to addressing the persistent challenge of responding to mental health crisis calls.”
The effort to integrate mental health professionals with first responders and co-respond to mental health crises builds on Shelby County mental health reforms that include direct transportation of first responders to emergency care. mental health, certified training of dispatchers who handle mental health, behavioral emergencies, and suicide calls, and a doubling of the capacity of the Shelby County Mental Health Court.
