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With new mental health focus, Waxahachie PD creates crisis response specialist position

The Waxahachie Daily Light - 10/15/2021

Oct. 15—Police agencies across the world are taking a hard look at how mental health is connected to many of the calls they receive.

The Waxahachie Police Department is giving itself a resource to guide its officers during this new focus.

WPD is teaming up with Corsicana-based Dr. Philip Taft and Associates to create a crisis response specialist position. The City Council approved a contract for the position at its last meeting following a request from Police Chief Wade Goolsby.

Once hired, the specialist, who will be overseen by Taft and his team, will work alongside the police department to provide their expertise in situations where a mental health crisis is involved.

Officials say the specialist is critical at a time when police are exploring how mental health is related to the calls they respond to.

"The world has changed dramatically in the last five years, and more pointedly in the last two to three years," said Taft, a Waxahachie resident.

He said the awareness of mental health and how that plays into public safety response is rising.

"We're culturally becoming more aware of the importance of including mental health with public safety," Taft said.

Assistant Police Chief Joe Wiser said the program has three main objectives — help those in the community who are struggling with mental health issues, train police officers and firefighter/paramedics on how to handle calls involving a mental health situation and provide first responders with the tools they need to handle their own mental well-being.

Part of the specialist's role will be to accompany first responders on calls when it's suspected a mental health issue may be involved.

Wiser said a crisis specialist's expertise is valuable when a person is threatening suicide or when a person has just experienced trauma.

"Our officers are trained in that, but we're limited when compared to the extensive training of a medical professional," Wiser said.

The specialist can also be used to defuse a dangerous situation between officers and an individual by helping officers recognize if person is experiencing a mental health crisis.

"So many of them are fueled by a crisis from mental health, and they're rising to a desperate place and not getting help," Taft said. "And police officers are the first ones to interact with them."

Taft pointed to the rising number of violent incidents across the country, including fatal confrontations involving an officer and an individual.

"These people are having a mental health crisis," Taft said. "They're not necessarily all hardened criminals with bad intentions."

But the nature of the situation will determine how soon the specialist talks with the caller or suspect.

"If there's a threat of violence, they're not going to be up front," Wiser said. "They're going to hold back until it's secure. But when there's no violence, it's going to be a priority."

The specialist will also follow up with an individual who is known to have a mental health condition.

"We want to make sure they get the medicine and the counseling," Wiser said. "We want to make sure they're getting the resources they need so we're not in this situation again. Many times, these calls are from people we hear from more than once."

In fact, the specialist will monitor known individuals with mental health needs and provide intervention to minimize the number of events requiring police involvement.

"We want to provide an outreach to the homeless and also to individuals who are at risk," Taft said. "There is a high volume who make contact with the police department who have underlying mental health issues or are dealing with substance abuse, and these are situations where a mental health professional can intervene."

He said addressing the issue at its root can change the course of someone's life.

"Hopefully we can divert them to mental health services instead of them being incarcerated or arrested," Taft said.

The specialist will also train officers on how to deal with mental health-related situations.

Wiser said it's not that officers aren't trained to handle mental health situations. In fact, he said officers are required to complete a 40-hour course on mental health.

"We train officers to handle violent situations, and we equip them with the tools to do that," Wiser said. "But when you're on the scene of a mental crisis, it's hard to ascertain what it is early on. If it's a violent criminal, they might look the same. You don't have a lot of time, and it can end in tragedy."

The specialist will also help the first responders with their own mental health needs.

Wiser said too many times officers will encounter situations that are tough to deal with, such as a case that involves the loss of a child.

Waxahachie first responders have an avenue for that as part of the nine-city Resiliency Program. But he said this would help even more.

"Instead of being like it was 30 years ago, the idea is to get first responders to talk about things," Wiser said. "This field has done a much better job about making resources available so that it doesn't become a long-term problem."

Taft said not facing the issues can have long-term consequences.

"There is a lot of post-traumatic stress that officers are exposed to that can carry over and lead to depression or anxiety," Taft said. "It can be carried over into their home life, where they need the assistance of a mental health professional."

Wiser said the hope is the program will eventually be available for all city employees.

Officials said though it's not solidified, another plan is for the specialist to create and manage an internship program.

"This specialist would oversee the interns, who can expand the services that we would provide at little to no cost."

Taft said there are plenty of opportunities for an internship program to be successful with online and local brick and mortar colleges, as well as Taft's connections to Baylor University.

Wiser said another future goal is to expand the program to assist firefighters/paramedics on calls.

For now, Taft is focusing on hiring the specialist, which he said could come as soon as November. Qualifications include having a graduate degree in social work, psychology or a related field.

Though WPD has partnered with Dr. Philip Taft and Associates for years for pre-employment psychological evaluations, Taft said this will be the first time he has partnered with an agency for a crisis intervention specialist. He praised WPD for being proactive and acknowledging the importance of addressing mental health.

"The credit goes to the City Council, Chief Goolsby and his assistant chiefs for being on the front edge and realizing this is needed," Taft said. "They recognized the need to put the funding toward this important position."

Taft said he has received more than 20 applications from people he considers qualified.

"Police do what they do beautifully, and mental health professionals do what we do beautifully," Taft said. "If we combine those, we can get a better result of diverting them away from a life of crime and move them toward a better life."

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