Cops call therapists for backup

It would be great if they could call in therapists from the VA if they are dealing with veterans, especially now!

Cops call therapists for backup

By Erin Grace
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

The 54-year-old Bellevue man had subsisted on nothing but vodka and water for six days. The 19-year-old crying Papillion woman was fearful of her abusive husband. The stressed-out 20-year-old Council Bluffs woman was so frozen with anxiety about a move and a new college that she couldn't breathe and was having heart palpitations.

In each case, police were called. In each case, police called for backup — but not from uniformed officers.

Backup came from licensed therapists, who helped at the scene and followed up later with the individuals, who otherwise might have ended up in costly emergency protective custody or left alone.

The cases reflect a trend in the Omaha metropolitan area as law enforcement agencies team up with mental health experts to better help the people they encounter on 911 calls who are not involved in criminal activities.

Here's how it works: A 911 call comes in, an officer responds and, depending upon the actions of the subject, dials the appropriate agency. Within 30 minutes, a therapist arrives and talks to the person to assess risk and advise the officer. Police make the final call on where the person goes, if anywhere.

It's a trend rooted in state policy to deinstitutionalize mental health services and serve patients in their homes and communities when possible. Because of this push, which resulted in the closing of regional behavioral health centers in Hastings and Norfolk, Neb., several years ago, the state is paying for emergency crisis care provided by two nonprofit agencies in the Omaha area.

Lutheran Family Services is the on-call resource for law enforcement agencies and homeless shelters in Omaha and Douglas, Washington and Dodge Counties. Heartland Family Service serves law enforcement agencies in Sarpy and Cass Counties in Nebraska and Pottawattamie County in Iowa.
read more here
Cops call therapists for backup