PPD hiring 2 mental health experts to help citizens in crisis

The Pensacola Police Department is hiring two new mental health experts with hopes that people in mental health emergencies can end up in treatment, rather than in the criminal justice system.

PPD officers are not only trained in de-escalation tactics and what department spokesperson Mike Wood calls "verbal judo," but their Community Redevelopment Area (CRA) District officers are also trained in helping downtown's large homeless presence to find services they seek.

Now, Wood says PPD will be hiring two mental health experts in October to respond to calls where mental health may be involved and to increase the department's footprint on helping the homeless with their needs.

"Their main purpose is to get to know people we deal with who are having mental health issues," Wood told the News Journal. "Not only that, but meet the homeless as well. To know these people by name and listen to each of their stories ... and try to find help for them."

The Council of State Governments Justice Center wrote a report in 2019, "Police-Mental Health Collaborations: A Framework for Implementing Effective Law Enforcement Responses for People Who Have Mental Health Needs," said calls involving mental health crisis "can be among the most complex and time-consuming for officers to resolve," as well as dangerous for both officers and citizens.

"Many communities continue to face pervasive gaps in mental health services, especially crisis services, placing aheavy burden on law enforcement agencies and, in particular, officers," the report said. "Without access to appropriate alternatives, officers are often left with a set of poor choices: leave people in potentially harmful situations, bring them to hospital emergency departments, or arrest them."

After spending some time training with on-duty officers, Pensacola's mental health professionals will not be sworn officers but will move to patrolling "hot spots" throughout the city with their own vehicle. Once they can branch off on their own, Wood says they will likely patrol the CRA District, which runs from 17th Avenue to A Street and from Cervantes Street to Pensacola Bay, since it houses much of the city's homeless population.

Wood says their job would bring a much-needed expertise in working with mental health that officers may not have. Depending on the situation, these mental health experts will dispatch with an officer to a location where both officer and expert can work with those involved in an incident.

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The new experts could even be dispatched to something as severe as a hostage situation, Wood said, along with hostage negotiators and SWAT.

"You get to know somebody over a certain amount of time and trust develops between the mental health professional and the person they're speaking with, that officer may not need to go," Wood said. "That's something we'll have to sit back and watch, but it would be a decision the mental health professional will make, and we will always be there to go with them or to stay close."

This is precisely the work that Pensacola native Dr. Cedrick Alexander promotes for law enforcement agencies across the country. Alexander is a leading voice on the topic of advancing policing, an executive who has served in law enforcement at every level of government, a licensed psychologist and a contributor to media outlets such as CNN, The Washington Post and MSNBC.

He's also appeared at two CivicCon events at The Rex Theatre — once in August 2020 to discuss police reform and again in September 2021 regarding modern policing.

Alexander says PPD's move toward helping those with mental illness in the community by adding mental health professionals would provide a new level of service to the area.

"This is the age of 21st century policing which is where you're going to see more specialization with the utilization of civilian personnel who are trained," he told the News Journal, "(this) will allow police officers to do what police were originally designed to do anyway, and that is prevention."

Alexander said Pensacola law enforcement could eventually reach a point where much of their time is free to patrol and spend more time with the community while mental health professionals handle patients in their realm of expertise.

Various law enforcement agencies have implemented civilian-trained mental health professionals, and Alexander says he's seen them work exactly as designed by catering to the needs of the individual and providing access to mental health resources.

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"It can't do anything but benefit the community and benefit those who may be struggling," Alexander said. "It is a good thing, it is a great thing that the Pensacola Police Department is heading in the right direction."

Neither mental health professional has been hired yet, but Wood says the hiring will make the decision at some point in October.

Wood said the overarching goal of the new program is to "better help the community and to those who are struggling, to those who are homeless in a way we've never tried before."

"We're always looking for new and innovative ways to deal with constant issues, and that's certainly one of them," he said. "That's our goal, is to see if this particular perspective is going to help. We won't know until we do it, but I don't see how it could not help."

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Pensacola Police Department investing in mental health experts