7/23/2018 scgrandjury.org Mail - Grand Jury Response from Sheriff's Office Grand Jury Grand Jury Response from

The 24-hour Crisis Intervention Training course has given law enforcement responders additional tools for dealing with people in crisis, resulting in less use of force. X AGREE PARTIALLY DISAGREE – explain the disputed portion DISAGREE – explain why Response explanation (required for a response other than Agree): Initiated in 2017, Crisis Intervention Training (CIT) is a joint project of Santa Cruz County, the Santa Cruz County Health Services Agency and the National Alliance on Mental Illness. Modeled on successful systems used throughout the U.S., CIT offers local law enforcement officers a multidisciplinary approach to addressing mental health- related encounters in the field approved by the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training. We regard CIT as an important component of all law enforcement officers' training regimens. While the goal of CIT is to increase safety of encounters for the public and law enforcement officers, we do not yet have sufficient data to make conclusions about whether the training has yet resulted in less use of force.

Adding more mental health liaisons and increasing their hours of availability would increase the benefit of this program to law enforcement and people in crisis. X AGREE PARTIALLY DISAGREE – explain the disputed portion DISAGREE – explain why Response explanation (required for a response other than Agree): Response Required by August 15, 2018 Mental Health Crisis Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors

Having law enforcement be the primary responder to non-threatening 9-1-1 EDP calls reduces the overall availability of law enforcement to the community. X AGREE PARTIALLY DISAGREE – explain the disputed portion DISAGREE – explain why Response explanation (required for a response other than Agree):

The Mobile Emergency Response Team (MERT) is not accessible through 9-1-1, resulting in overuse of law enforcement. X AGREE PARTIALLY DISAGREE – explain the disputed portion DISAGREE – explain why Response explanation (required for a response other than Agree): While we agree that the MERT is not accessible through 9-1-1, we do wish to clarify one point. We do not consider dispatching public safety officers to any 9-1-1 mental health crisis call to be "overuse." We do not consider dispatching public safety officers to any 9-1-1 call to be "overuse." We encourage residents to call 9-1-1 even if they are unsure whether an emergency situation exists. Consequently, public safety officers frequently respond to calls that turn out to not pose imminent threats to life, safety or property, or even require any law enforcement attention. Even so, we do not consider these calls to be "overuse" of public safety resources. As discussed later, differentiating threats based on a mental health-related 9-1-1 call, particularly one from family or loved ones in obvious distress, can be difficult. In these cases, we would not consider dispatching an officer to be "overuse" of resources should the call turn out to require a strictly clinical response. Response Required by August 15, 2018 Mental Health Crisis Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors