On October 4th, NAMI Humboldt held it’s general meeting at the Professional Building in Eureka.
Chief Garr Nielson was invited to speak concerning his views and agenda for the future regarding the mentally ill community and the Eureka Police Department. Approximately 38 were in attendance.
He was born and raised in the Bay area, 8 years in San Bruno in addition to 20 years with the Sheriff’s office in Oregon. He worked on all operational assignments. He stated that when he started 28 years ago, the police were not the first responders to the concerns of the mentally ill, unlike now. The CIT (Crisis Intervention Training) has been initiated in different communities throughout the county. It is now being incorporated in the Humboldt County training. His goal is to get all officers and dispatchers trained in this venue, as well as continue giving them ongoing skills and tools to better educate them in how to deal with these crisis situations. With this type of training, the resources and networking that is available is invaluable. He would like to see Mental Health officials at these briefings as well.
As was brought out by various individuals at the meeting, the police will only be triaging the mentally ill, the entire system needs to be addressed, so that the police are not the first responders.
He doesn’t want the officers in a position of having to use deadly force. It is a tragedy for everyone involved. They are trying to have tasers for all cops, supposedly a less lethal form of force.
The hope is that the officers on the front line will be better trained, with more communication with the Mental Health community, to work together to deescalate the situation before resorting to force.
An audience participant described a situation where her family member had almost been killed by the police. The next time they were called out for that individual, the responding officer was CIT trained, and the scenario was entirely different. Through patience, education and training, the incident was resolved without anyone getting hurt.
Unfortunately, the cuts forthcoming in the Mental Health services are going to make police interaction more necessary.
Chief Nielsen stated that he would never advocate hiring police over more mental health issues, while still maintaining the need for more officers for other community crimes and issues.
Police are not going to effectively change the situation of the homeless transient until there are more local services available. The community will have to address the issue of what is important to them, and that might come from more taxes. As a couple of audience folks indicated, it is up to the community to make sure the monies that are available are allocated in the appropriate manner.
The Chief stated that there is an open invitation to ride with the officers at any time to see what transpires in the course of their shifts.
An audience member brought up the fact that the EPD has serious cultural issues that need to be overcome. Chief Nielsen agreed with that statement and said that it takes time. Not allowing old bad behavior to continue, holding folks accountable, trying to reduce the stigma attached to this illness, and setting daily expectations to a higher standard, all add up to significant changes, but again, it will not happen overnight.
The expectation is that bad things decrease as all of this moves forward.
Questions were brought up regarding what is happening in the Mental Health Department. There were a couple of representatives from the MHD, but there is so much information to be discussed, that NAMI Humboldt will try to have a general program addressing only these issues.
We wish to thank Chief Nielsen and all of the audience for participating. A lot of positive things can happen as long as we have open and honest communication. Sharon Benda