Orange County Grand Jury • 2012-2013 • Agency Response
Response to: To Protect And To Serve: A Look at Tools to Assist Law Enforcement in Achieving Positive Outcomes with the Homeless Mentally Ill 06/19/13, 818KB

City of Cypress*

Published: September 10, 2013 4 pages
View Original PDF

Note: Missing finding numbers detected: F9

Findings and Recommendations 9 findings

F1
Although POST requires continuing education in the area of dealing with individuals who are mentally ill, it does not specify the number of hours or frequency of officer training; nor does it require that such training be documented. The Cypress Police Department agrees with this finding. The Cypress Police Department; however, documents all training provided to officers.
Related Recommendations (1)
R1
Require specific continuing education for all police officers and sheriff's deputies in interacting with the mentally ill and homeless population: Orange County City Police Chiefs and the Sheriff-Coroner shall corroborate with the Orange County Chiefs and Sheriff's Association to set the type, hours and frequency of this supplemental training; Include Crisis Intervention Training (perhaps the Memphis model); Training is to be documented. • The recommendation will not be implemented because it is not warranted or is not reasonable. While the Cypress Police Department considers it important to train police officers in interacting with the mentally ill and homeless population, and in fact does send officers to this training, the Orange County Chiefs' of Police and Sheriff's Association is not the proper management body to set specific policy in this or any other area of training. Training, whether mandatory or elective, is best regulated by the California Commission on Peace Officers Standards and Training (POST). POST has the legislative mandate, the funding, and the ability to draw subject matter experts into the fold so that training, both type and scope, is conducted consistent with best practices. Additionally, the Cypress Police Department already documents all training for its personnel to include over 3,500 hours of training last year.
F2
Field officers desire more in-depth training in dealing with the mentally ill on the street. (Interviews) The Cypress Police Department partially agrees with this finding. While some officers may desire additional training, others who have received more extensive training may not desire additional training in this area.
Related Recommendations (1)
R2
All Orange County Police Departments and the Sheriff's Department shall be accredited with a national accreditation agency within five (5) years. The recommendation will not be implemented because it is not warranted or is not reasonable. While formal accreditation may be of benefit to some agencies, there would be a significant burden on our agency's personnel. As a result of the recent economic downturn, the Cypress Police Department's Executive Management Team was reduced by 40%, and its fist line supervisor rank was reduced by 9%. Accreditation by an agency such as CALEA would require the reassignment of at least one executive manager to work full-time on the accreditation process. The resulting gap in management of the Department would be unacceptable. Honorable Thomas J. Borris Response to 2012-2013 Orange County Grand Jury Report Furthermore, the Cypress Police Department subscribes to the Lexipol Law Enforcement Policy Manual, which bases many of its policies on current court case decisions and best practices. Additionally, the Cypress Police Department is compliant with all POST regulations and requirements and is subject to regular audits and inspections by POST. Should you have any questions regarding these responses, please contact me at 714/229-6621. Sincerely, Whitely Jackie Jackie Gomez-Whiteley, Chief of Police Cypress Police Department
F3
There is one officer - in a very few instances two officers - for every one thousand (1,000) citizens in a given city within the County who are expected to deal with the full range of law enforcement issues of that city. The Cypress Police Department agrees with this finding. Prakash Narain, M.D., Mayor Doug Bailey, Council Member Leroy Mills, Mayor Pro Tem Mariellen Yarc, Council Member Rob Johnson, Council Member Honorable Thomas J. Borris Response to 2012-2013 Orange County Grand Jury Report
No recommendations for this finding
F4
Nationally accredited police departments police less than 10% of Orange County cities. The Cypress Police Department agrees with this finding.
No recommendations for this finding
F5
Not all Orange County cities have at least one officer trained in Crisis Intervention. Based solely on the information contained in the Grand Jury report, the Cypress Police Department agrees with this finding.
No recommendations for this finding
F6
There is a broad spectrum of on-going training provided to patrol officers in order to develop their abilities and strategies in dealing with the mentally ill. Some departments provide minimal training; others have comprehensive programs in place. Based solely on the information contained in the Grand Jury report, the Cypress Police Department agrees with this finding.
No recommendations for this finding
F7
Five departments have their patrol officers ride periodically with the homeless liaison officer. Seventeen do not. Based solely on the information contained in the Grand Jury report, the Cypress Police Department agrees with this finding.
No recommendations for this finding
F8
Departments are reaching out - or beginning to reach out - to neighboring departments and to other skilled professionals, both in dialogue about the mentally ill and homeless issues in their cities, and to learn more effective strategies in dealing with these individuals. The Cypress Police Department agrees with this finding.
No recommendations for this finding
F10
All police departments adhere to written policy, procedure and/or protocol regarding contact with mentally ill persons. The Cypress Police Department generally agrees with this finding; however, we cannot attest to the adherence to policy by other agencies. Honorable Thomas J. Borris Response to 2012-2013 Orange County Grand Jury Report
No recommendations for this finding

* This report's PDF did not contain easily extractable text and required Optical Character Recognition (OCR) for analysis. There may be minor errors in the extracted findings and recommendations due to OCR limitations with scanned documents.