MENTAL HEALTH UNIT

1. MENTAL HEALTH UNIT INFORMATION AND DATABASE MANAGEMENT

2. WORKSHOP AGENDA • Brief historical perspective prior to CIT program • Inception of the CIT program and how it evolved into the Mental Health Unit • Unit organization chart • How the creation of a CIT database benefits our police department • Implementing your own CIT Tracking Program • Information management

3. CITY OF HOUSTON STATISTICS 2011 • City of Houston Population: 2,100,000 • HPD Calls for Service: 1,145,734 • CIT Calls for Service: 25,500 • CIT Offense Reports: 11,528 • Total CIT Reports Catalogued: 8,270 • Total HPD Officers: 5,300 • Total CIT Officers: 1,848 • Total CIT Cases Investigated by MHU: 1,155 • Total Mental Health Unit (MHU) Investigative Staff: 5

4. HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE PRIOR TO THE MENTAL HEALTH UNIT • 1991- Impetus for Working on Mental Health Issues • The process of obtaining an emergency detention order was very complicated and time consuming • Officers spent on average 5 to 6 hours filing 7 pages of affidavits, locating a judge, a notary, and a hospital bed. • Only one hospital facility available with 12 beds – limited area resources for law enforcement to utilize • 1992 – The Roots of inter-agency collaboration & CIT • One officer took initiative and met with MHMRA director to streamline the EDO process and reduce time • Developed plans for a future facility that would handle consumers brought in by police in a timely manner

5. HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE PRIOR TO THE MENTAL HEALTH UNIT • 1993 – First Class on Mental Illness • Prior to the 1990’s there was no formal training available for police officers regarding different mental disorders • No tactics or techniques for crisis de-escalation available for officers dealing with individuals with serious mental health crises • Officers had mostly negative attitudes about mental illness and the lengthy, time consuming process of obtaining an emergency detention order • Most officers did not feel responding to individuals with mental illness was role of law enforcement • Officer Frank Webb and Dr. Schnee developed 8 hour in-service class ‘Dealing with the Mentally Ill’

6. HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE PRIOR TO THE MENTAL HEALTH UNIT • 1996 – Mandatory 16 hour class for Patrol Sergeants • Chief Nuchia approved and mandated 16 hours of training regarding mental health issues for all patrol sergeants. • 1998 – Harris County Criminal Justice Workgroup • A multi-agency workgroup was formed to address barriers to responding to the mentally ill in Harris County. • Committee decided primary issue to address was the law enforcement’s response to individuals in serious crisis situations. • This paved the way for the development of the CIT program in the Houston Police Department.

7. HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE PRIOR TO THE MENTAL HEALTH UNIT • 1999 – CIT 6 month pilot program • 40 hour class taught by Officer Frank Webb. • Program was voluntary and offered to patrol • 63 patrol officers became CIT trained • Opening of the Neuro-Psychiatric Center (NPC) • Average time on EDO – 15 minutes • 2000 – Department-wide Implementation • 213 patrol officers trained. • 2001 – CIT Coordinator Position Approved • Over 700 officers have received training • This position reported directly to Executive Assistant Chief over Patrol Operations

8. HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE PRIOR TO THE MENTAL HEALTH UNIT • 2005 – State Mandated CIT training; Senate Bill 1473 • Senate Bill 1473 mandates 16 hours of CIT and de-escalation training for all Texas peace officers. • 2006 –CIT Administrative Unit formed • The size and complexity of Houston’s CIT program, along with increased training responsibilities related to Senate Bill 1473, resulted in a program too large for one person (Senior Officer Frank Webb) to coordinate. Chief of Police Harold L. Hurtt approved the formation of a CIT administrative unit in August 2006.

9. TRANSFORMATION OF THE C.I.T. PROGRAM • 2007 – Formation of the Mental Health Unit • The CIT program is the foundation of the unit • This unit oversees the department’s multi-faceted, comprehensive program for responding to individuals in serious mental health crisis • Programs under this unit include the following: • Administration & CIT Training Unit • Investigations • Crisis Intervention Response Team (CIRT) • Chronic Consumer Stabilization Initiative (CCSI) • Homeless Outreach Team (HOT) • Sobering Center (January 2013)

10. TEXAS MENTAL HEALTH CODE: APPREHENSION BY PEACE OFFICER WITHOUT WARRANT SECTION 573.001 • A peace officer, without a warrant, may take a person into custody if the officer: • has reason to believe and does believe that: • the person is mentally ill; and • because of that mental illness there is a substantial risk of serious harm to the person or to others unless the person is immediately restrained; and • believes that there is not sufficient time to obtain a warrant before taking the person into custody. • A substantial risk of serious harm to the person or others under Subsection (a)(1)(B) may be demonstrated by: • the person's behavior; or • evidence of severe emotional distress and deterioration in the person's mental condition to the extent that the person cannot remain at liberty. • (c) The peace officer may form the belief that the person meets the criteria for apprehension: • from a representation of a credible person; or • on the basis of the conduct of the apprehended person or the circumstances under which the apprehended person is found.

11. DEPARTMENT POLICY: SUBJECT: PERSONS SUSPECTED OF MENTAL ILLNESS GENERAL ORDER: 500-12 • 4 INCIDENT REPORTS • Officers will complete an incident report on all incidents involving persons suspected of mental illness.The title of the report will be the same as the offense. If no criminal offense was committed, the offense report will be titled Investigation-Mental Illness. The report will include the name of the psychiatrist who examined the person • suspected of mental illness

12. MENTAL HEALTH UNIT ORGANIZATIONAL CHART

13. Lieutenant M. A. Lee Mental Health Unit Sergeant M. Loera INVESTIGATIONS Sergeant P. Plourde CIRT SergeantS. Wick HOMELESS OUTREACH SPO M. Rubin Investigator PO R. Arias CIRT Officer SPO J. Giraldo H.O.T.Officer PO J. Terry H.O.T.Officer SPO D. Anders Investigator SPO J. Osborne CIRT Officer PO P. Rayon Investigator PO N. Baines CIRT Officer PO M. Pate Investigator PO R. Dunn CIRT Officer • SPO F. Webb • Training PO C. McKinney CIRT Officer • PO R. Skillern • Training PO C. Vaughan Training SergeantJ. Ramirez CIRT PO M. Stevens CIRT Officer PO J. Llorente CIRT Officer PO J. Garcia CIRT Officer PO R. Conchola CIRT Officer PO S. Augustine CIRT Officer

14. DEVELOPMENT OF THE C.I.T. DATABASE • Define it’s purpose • Information source – offense reports, calls for service • Type of data collected • How will the information collected be used • Investigations and follow-ups • Research and analysis – Response strategies • Statistics

15. IDENTIFYING THE MENTAL HEALTH POPULATION • Proper Dispatch Call Codes and Titles • Non-Family Disturbance/CIT • Suspicious Person/CIT • Proper Offense Report Titles • Investigation Mental Illness (CIT) • Harassment (CIT) • Trespassing (CIT)

16. EXAMPLE OF AN ACTUAL OFFENSE REPORT TITLE

17. EXAMPLE OF AN ACTUAL CALL FOR SERVICE TITLE

18. SCREENING OFFENSE REPORTS AND FILTERING INFORMATION • The initial steps to help identify who your mental health clients are within your jurisdiction starts with a thorough screening procedure • Source of information: Offense Reports • A report screener reviews every printed offense report that has been coded ‘CIT’ and makes notations of all relevant mental health components and major indicators that were documented by the patrol officer at the scene

19. MAJOR INDICATORS AND MENTAL HEALTH COMPONENTS • Filtering out the major indicators and mental health components from a police report will be crucial when collecting this information and imputing this into a comprehensive database (Statistics) Examples of Mental Health Components and Major Indicators: • Delusional • Paranoia • Hearing Voices • Suicidal • Homicidal • Off Medication • Violence/Threat • Weapons used • Use of Force • Request Suicide by cop • Suicide Attempt/Method • Jail Diversion

20. MENTAL HEALTH UNIT INFORMATION WORK FLOW

21. OFFENSE REPORT Lieutenant M. A. Lee Mental Health Unit SPO M. Rubin Investigator Sergeant M. Loera Investigative Supervisor INVESTIGATIVE ASSIGNMENTS PO P. Rayon Investigator PO M. Pate Investigator SPO D. Anders Investigator DATABASE ENTRY

22. WHO GETS ENTERED INTO THE MENTAL HEALTH UNIT DATABASE? • Mental health consumers who were reported to be in a mental health crisis and met the criteria for an Emergency DetentionOrder (EDO) • Mental health consumers who were reported to have committed a criminal offense or were likely to have committed a criminal offense due to their untreated or uncontrolled psychotic behavior • Known mental health consumers who pose a danger or serious threat to themselves or the public

26. MENTAL HEALTH UNIT DATABASE CRITICAL INFORMATION SHARING • Critical information gleaned from the CIT database can be shared with segments of the law enforcement community and the local police department under specific circumstances: • Safety awareness to first responders • Safety alert bulletins disseminated to the appropriate Patrol Division or Precinct where the mental health consumer resides • Premise histories on certain locations issued to the Emergency Communications Division (Dispatcher)

31. MENTAL HEALTH UNIT DATABASELOGIN SCREEN • The database is not a department wide program and it cannot be accessed by anyone outside the agency • Maintained on secure server

32. INVESTIGATIONS & FOLLOW-UPS • 900 to 1000 offense reports (CIT) are reviewed each month • 75 to 125 cases are assigned to all 4 investigators each month • Such cases include: • Criminal charges on serious offenses • Firearms investigations • Premise histories on locations or persons with serious mental illness who engaged in violent behavior • Chronic consumers involving numerous contacts with the police • Referrals

33. AGENCYREFERRALS • Properly reviewed offense reports are developed into case files and are assigned for follow-up investigations or referred to outside agencies for appropriate handling. Some examples are the following: • Child Protective Services (CPS) • Adult Protective Services (APS) • Department of Public Safety (DPS) • Mobile Crisis Outreach Team (MCOT) • Crisis Intervention Response Team (CIRT)

34. ASSIGNMENT EXAMPLES

37. MENTAL HEALTH UNIT DATABASERESTRICTIONS • All files and records are retained solely within the police department’s Mental Health Unit. • Access is only authorized to investigators and supervisors assigned within the Mental Health Unit.

43. HOUSTON POLICE DEPARTMENT MENTAL HEALTH UNIT 2011 ANNUAL DEMOGRAPHICS AND STATISTICS REPORT

44. MENTAL HEALTH UNIT 2011 STATISTICS

45. MENTAL HEALTH UNIT 2011 STATISTICS

46. MENTAL HEALTH UNIT 2011 STATISTICS

47. MENTAL HEALTH UNIT 2011 STATISTICS

48. MENTAL HEALTH UNIT 2011 STATISTICS

49. QUESTIONS? 49

50. CONTACTS • Mental Health Unit Lieutenant • Mike Lee, M.A. • Mike.Lee@cityofhouston.net • Mental Health Unit Sergeant • Patrick Plourde • Patrick.Plourde@cityofhouston.net WWW.HOUSTONCIT.ORG