State agency: Mental health beds available the night of woman's arrest

Dec. 14—Beds for mental health patients in Cleveland County were available the night a Norman mother was arrested and taken to jail, where she died 12 days later, a state mental health official told The Transcript on Tuesday.

Shannon Hanchett was arrested Nov. 26 on complaints of false 911 calls and obstructing an officer.

The arresting officer noted in a court affidavit the woman was "exhibiting behavior that was consistent with some type of mental health disorder."

Hanchett died early Thursday in the Cleveland County Detention Center. She was found unconscious and not breathing.

Jeffrey Dismukes, a spokesperson for the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, told The Transcript there were "mental health hospital beds available every day" from the date of Hanchett's arrest to the date of her death.

The state agency operates Griffin Memorial Mental Health Hospital in Norman and contracts with Red Rock Behavioral Health, which operates a crisis unit on the hospital grounds.

"Even if a particular facility is full at a given time, the individual will have access to the next available bed across the system," Dismukes said. "We also have additional hospital beds across the state.

"Remember, however, that there are also hospital emergency services and behavioral health beds. Any emergency room in the state is able to conduct an assessment. Many hospitals also have behavioral health units."

Norman police officer Dustin Crawford, one of the arresting officers, stated Hanchett did not comply with his orders to stop calling 911 and argued that she could not be arrested.

"Upon arrival, I contacted the defendant, who was exhibiting behavior that was consistent with some type of mental health disorder," the officer wrote in the affidavit. "In trying to gather more information from the defendant so that I could try to assist her, she stated that she was going to call 911. I instructed her not to call 911."

The Transcript reached out to the department late Tuesday to find out why Hanchett was taken to jail instead of mental health facility for evaluation.

In a statement from police, a spokesperson said Hanchett "did not meet criteria under state law for an involuntary protective custody detention."

"When a person meets criteria for protective custody then they are provided resources for their specific situation," spokesperson Meghan Jackson said in the statement. "Most often that includes a transport to a facility for further evaluation."

It was unclear Tuesday if the arresting officer had been trained in crisis intervention, which teaches officers to spot signs of substance abuse or mental health episodes.

Police Chief Kevin Foster told the Norman City Council in July 2020 that more than 30% of the department is trained in crisis intervention, compared to 20% in most departments.

Foster stated at the time that he wanted to train the entire department in crisis intervention.

The Transcript recently submitted an open records request to Cleveland County Sheriff Chris Amason, whose office operates the detention center, to find out whether Hanchett was evaluated and offered treatment for physical and mental health needs after she was booked on the night of her arrest.

The request had not been fulfilled as of Tuesday night.