Region's Law Enforcement Barraged by Mental Health Calls

SAN DIEGO COUNTY, CA: An 84-percent increase in the number of calls for service to law enforcement in San Diego County for issues stemming from mental health was reported Monday by the San Diego Association of Governments.

Agencies including the San Diego County Sheriff's Department and local police departments logged more than 31,700 such calls in 2015, compared to 17,276 in 2009, according to a report compiled by SANDAG's Criminal Justice Research Division.

SANDAG worked with the law enforcement agencies to compile the report in an effort to better understand how mental-health related calls for service affect their workload. In addition, each of the departments was surveyed about possible reasons for the increase and ideas for alleviating the situation. 

One in every four adults in San Diego County face a mental health challenge, while one in five children have some degree of emotional or behavioral difficulties, according to information provided by county health officials. 

While the San Diego region as a whole has increased its number of Psychiatric Emergency Response Teams, the growing number of calls  — not including calls for other reasons that turn out to be related to an underlying mental health issue — continue to consume significant law enforcement resources, according to the report.

Some jurisdictions require two sworn deputies or officers to respond to mental health-related calls; additional time required is to assess the situation, and time is required to transport and supervise an individual to a licensed facility to be evaluated, the report noted.

Participating law enforcement representatives listed a variety of factors that may be contributing to the higher call volume, such as: increased drug use, greater awareness of mental health issues, more people suffering from mental illness issues who don't have a stable residence, more people suffering from PTSD, not enough programs and sessions available for such people, and a growing number of formerly incarcerated people who, due to legislative changes, are not taking their medication for prescribed issues. 

Law enforcement noted that an average of 22 percent of mental-health related calls come from repeat callers; an average of 34 percent are related to homeless people; and an average of 65 percent of calls involve current or past drug use.

As for how the region can improve its response to the calls, law enforcement shared a variety of idea, including: greater PERT availability, more intensive case management services available to assist those with persistent severe mental illness, expanded psychiatric departments in hospital emergency departments, increasing the number of programs and beds for those with mental health needs (including walk-in clinics), providing law enforcement with more training, improving the intake process at local facilities, making it easier for family members to get conservatorships or medical information from doctors, providing additional services for co-occurring disorders, ensuring quicker access to psychiatric evaluations for medication and quicker access to follow-up psychiatric visits in the community following discharge from hospitalization, and increased regional information sharing and collaboration. 

Those dealing with mental illness were advised of area programs that can be of assistance, in addition to local enforcement:

• San Diego County Crisis Line, 888-724-7240;
• Dial 2-1-1 for resource referral services;
•  Up2sd.org; and
•  Toughtimessd.org.