Abigail Shimniok

Mental health crisis calls to the police have become more frequent in recent years, which has led to a need for more mental health centers in the U.S.
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration reported 350,000 calls, chats and texts to their 988 lifelines per month in 2022. A large amount of these mental health crises are responded to with police officers.
According to the Community Policing Dispatch, law enforcement regularly responds to service calls for individuals with mental illness who may be in crisis. Officers and deputies need the knowledge and resources to effectively respond to these crises, while also ensuring the safety of the individuals with mental illness, other community members on the scene and themselves.”
In Wisconsin, the Department of Health Services reported, there were 35,000 crisis calls across the state in 2021. In Grant County, WI an interview with Spectrum News, Sgt. Mason Nemitz of Grant County Police said, “We might go a couple days without having a mental health call, but then there could be another time where we deal with it two, three times a day or we deal with it four or five times a week.” He also recounts a rise of mental health calls in recent years.
The Crisis Intervention Team only teaches officers in police academy during a five day session of how to handle a person going through a mental health crisis.
Nemitz describes his decision factors in ensuring the person is safe and not going to harm others. Nemitz said “the problem arises when people are considered dangerous to themselves or others and must be put in emergency detention. This requires the Grant County Sheriff’s Department to transport that person to one of three mental health facilities throughout the state of Wisconsin,” Spectrum News reported.
Currently Bill 467 in Wisconsin is going through the state legislature and aims to creates more mental health institutes across the state. The bill states that a county can become certified to have their own mental health facility. This is to offer aid to officers and people going through a mental health crisis and to be able to offer sources to them in a timely manner.