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Los Angeles County Sheriff's Dept. Mental Evaluation Team
Quick Facts:
- Name of coordinating law enforcement agency:
- Los Angeles County Sheriff's Dept
- Approximate number of officers in agency:
- 8700
- Primary specialized response:
- Mental health professionals partner with law enforcement officers to provide on-scene crisis intervention and referral.
- Program start year:
- 2005 or earlier
- Total number of officers in program:
- 6
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Dept. Mental Evaluation Team
Contact:
- Name:
- Don Hudalla
- Organization:
- Los Angeles County Sheriff's Dept
- Address:
- 1441 Santa Anita Ave
South El Monte, CA - Email:
- dphudall@lasd.org
- Phone:
- (626) 258-3004
Agency Information
- Name of coordinating law enforcement agency:
- Los Angeles County Sheriff's Dept
- Type of government that operates law enforcement agency:
- Municipal
- Approximate number of officers in agency:
- 8700
Specialized Response Description
- Program start year:
- 2005 or earlier
- Primary specialized response:
- Mental health professionals partner with law enforcement officers to provide on-scene crisis intervention and referral.
- Secondary specialized response:
- There is only one specialized response program in the jurisdiction.
- Background information:
- It was a joint effort with the Department of Mental Health and the Sheriff's Department. Once the personnel were assigned, they attended 80 hours of training in areas of Mental Health Screening, medications, legal processes for the mentally ill, conflict resolution, to name a few. After the two weeks of training, the team became operational.
- Total number of officers in program:
- 6
- Catchment area:
- The entire jurisdiction
- Funding source(s):
-
- Sheriff's Department
- Community Mental Health Service Provider
- Staff supported by funding:
-
- Law Enforcement Officer
- Medical professional (e.g. nurse, doctor)
Program Partners and Personnel
- Existence of planning and oversight committee:
- No (please proceed to question 17)
- Mental health or advocacy agencies that participate in program:
- L.A. County Department of Mental Health
- Written agreement of roles and procedures:
- Yes
- Recruitment and selection:
- Officers volunteer and some are selected.
- Program coordinator/boundary spanner
- Yes. The program coordinator represents a law enforcement agency
- Same
Training on Mental Health Issues
- Types of training on mental health issues:
-
- Pre-service training for new recruits at the academy
- 8
- Basic in-service training for all patrol officers
- 8
- Number of officers who receive advanced training:
- 1-50
- Other information on training:
- The Department is in the process of updating the training given to deputies in all areas of the department...ie, Academy cadets, Custody deputies, Patrol deputies. The only advanced training is given to members of the Mental Evaluation Team.
Response Procedures
- Standardized dispatch questions:
- No
- Dispatch documentation:
- Document in central computer database used for all calls, such as a Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system
- Incident documentation by responding officer:
- Relay information to dispatch who records it in general computer database used for all calls, such as a Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system
- Use of information on individuals' mental illness stored in police records:
- This information is not stored.
- Mental health professional available to support police responder:
- No
- Officers permitted to transport people with mental illness to services when:
-
- The person has volunteered to receive mental health treatment
- The person is being brought to a hospital for emergency evaluation
- Officers allowed to transport a person without handcuffs:
- No
- Access to drop-off locations:
- Yes. It is open 24 hours a day.
- Procedure for streamlined intake and a "no refusal" policy for police referrals?
- Yes
- Location of drop-off center(s):
- Psychiatric emergency room in general hospital
- Drop-off center accepts people with co-occurring substance abuse disorders:
- Yes
- Length of time for drop-off and return to patrol:
- More than 45 minutes
Program Sustainability
- Data collection:
- No
- Published evaluation:
- No
- Local media coverage:
- Most of the articles were done early during the teams inception (1993. I have the articles, but I have no idea what newspaper wrote the article.
- Legislative funding or support:
- No
- Key to the program's success:
- Our unit are not only available to field patrol units for calls of the mentally ill, but we assist with suicides in progress, barricaded mentally ill individuals, death notifications and crisis intervention for family members due to suicide and homicide.
About this information:
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