SPOKANE, Wash. — The Spokane Police Department has seen success with a program that partners police with mental health professionals on patrols.
Right now, SPD has two mental health professionals paired with officers. These professionals accompany their partner officers on every call they respond to.
According to SPD, one in four of the calls it receives are mental health-related.
Almost four months ago, jails and hospitals were the only two options for people experiencing mental health crises in Spokane.
With the Community Diversion Unit, people in crisis now have a chance to be sent to a place where they can receive help, thanks to a partnership with Frontier Behavioral Health.
Steffanie Stevens is a clinician with Frontier Behavioral Health and now the CDU.
She patrols with SPD for 40 hours a week, responding to all police calls.
She and one other mental health clinician have been able to work with police side-by-side to tackle mental health, thanks to grant money.
"They get to see how each other can help each other, instead of one agency saying this is my job another agency saying this is my job and then there are barriers in between," Stevens said. "I think this helps break those barriers. Mental health issues are overwhelming, especially in the Spokane area, and it's not going away."
Soon, two more mental health clinicians will be on the streets patrolling with police.
With the CDU, mental health clinicians are able to help police find better resources for people experiencing a mental health crisis.
While police continue to patrol, these mental health professionals are able to either stay with people in crisis or follow up with them to make sure they are getting the care they need. This allows police resources to stay on the streets as people in crisis are diverted to a facility to better suit their needs.
Since the CDU started back in July, the unit has made contact with 297 people. During this time, 227 people were diverted, which means they were able to go to a place that could help instead of being sent to jail or the hospital.
"At the time where the person is in crisis, we've already seen where these clinicians can come in and help facilitate some things which allows that person to feel like, 'I actually have something to look forward to, the answer that is going to help me get through this,'" said Sgt. Nate Spiering with SPD.
Police said the CDU has been a tremendous help to officers who cannot spend hours on end waiting with someone who needs help because they have other emergency calls to respond to. That is where the mental health professionals can now step in.
Police hope to continue this partnership and further improve the collaboration so Spokane residents can get the help they need.