Millcreek police adding aid for crisis calls, officer well-being through state grant

The Millcreek Township Police Department responds to a "significant number" of mental health and other crisis incidents each year, Police Chief Scott Heidt said.

The department's 66 officers also regularly respond to calls that can affect their own mental health.

"We are exposed to a lot of stuff the average person wouldn't believe," Deputy Chief Carter Mook said.

Millcreek police will soon employ extra help to respond to crisis calls and provide counseling to its officers through the recent receipt of a state grant.

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The nearly $250,000 grant through the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency will enable the department to employ a full-time, in-house crisis clinician to respond to mental health incidents and follow up on cases. It will also provide training to members of the department to be peer counselors for other officers.

The grant will cover the crisis clinician's salary and benefits, as well as equipment and supplies, over two years, according to Mook.

The crisis clinician will join Millcreek police in partnership with UPMC Western Behavioral Health at Safe Harbor. Millcreek police selected the person, who Safe Harbor hired and will train, Mook said.

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Addressing a crisis

Crisis services has responded to 420 calls in which a law enforcement agency in Erie County has requested assistance at a scene so far this year, through November, according to data provided by Stacey Buettner, program director of crisis services for UPMC Western Behavioral Health at Safe Harbor.

Having a trained clinician working with Millcreek police will provide the opportunity to meet with an individual experiencing a crisis as early as possible, Buettner said. The clinician can help deescalate a situation, identify concerns, offer support and connect the individual to the appropriate services, she said.

Crisis services already works very closely with law enforcement on more intense crisis situations, where someone is more acutely at risk, said Mandy Fauble, director of clinical care services for UPMC Western Behavioral Health at Safe Harbor. Having someone working with Millcreek police will help divert people from the legal system and direct them to the help they really need, she said.

Mook said their are a number of "regular users of our services" who are not experiencing a mental health crisis to the point where they need to be taken into custody and admitted to the hospital for a mental health evaluation, but are "not on the right track." By having a dedicated crisis clinician, the department can direct those people to the help they need, he said.

"Arrest is not the right answer," Mook said.

The clinician will work out of the Millcreek Township Police Department and will have a set schedule, Heidt said. He said the person will go with officers to incidents on occasion, depending on the situation, while there could be times when an officer on scene calls the worker to a location.

The clinician may also be asked to do a follow-up visit with a person police encounter who may be experiencing a mental health crisis, Heidt said.

"We're hoping the person will be able to establish a rapport with the client," he said.

Heidt said he would like to see the program expand beyond mental health issues to include helping those with other challenges, including substance abuse.

"If we can help one person, that's what we are looking to do," he said.

Millcreek Township Supervisor Kim Clear, who is the liaison to the township police department, credited the efforts of Heidt, Mook and others in securing the grant and adding the program to the department.

"I think it reaffirms our commitment to addressing all of the needs in our community, including those with mental health challenges," Clear said.

Under the peer counseling component of the grant program, three of the township's police officers will be trained to be peer support officers, Mook said. Those officers will be available to any township officer who needs to speak to someone about issues they may be experiencing, he said.

Erie police move forward with crisis car

Millcreek police are adding a crisis clinician as the Erie Bureau of Police continues to advance plans for reestablishing a specialized unit to respond to mental health and other crisis incidents.

Police Chief Dan Spizarny said last week that he hopes to have the Crisis Unit up and running by May 1, once eight new officers are sworn in later this month.

More:Erie police set to add Juvenile Crime Unit, move forward with Crisis Unit plans

City police used to have a Crisis Unit that responded to a variety of crisis calls, but it was disbanded in 2005 because of budget issues. Spizarny late last year sought from Erie City Council a portion of the city's American Rescue Plan funding to use in hiring additional officers to resurrect the Crisis Unit and a Juvenile Crime Unit, which was also disbanded in 2005.

Spizarny said officers have been selected for the Juvenile Crime Unit and will begin work in January.

Contact Tim Hahn at thahn@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNhahn.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Millcreek police adding crisis clinician to aid in mental health calls