the department<\/a> has been considering for a long time, but thanks to support from the Utah State Legislature, the department now has the resources to put it in place.<\/p>\n\u201cOver the past several years, we have seen an increase in our response to mental health crisis calls,\u201d Bennett said. \u201cSo, we thought of a model that we could do where we could assign a detective to become more specialized in training and in responding to mental health crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n
The new program means a detective will focus entirely on mental-health-related cases.<\/p>\n
Every day, the detective will review any incident in the city with a mental health component, follow up with the people involved and work to connect them with long-term resources.<\/p>\n
The goal, Chief Bennett said, is early intervention and de-escalation to not only prevent a crisis from becoming a criminal case, but also to reduce the number of times officers are called back to the same individuals or situations.<\/p>\n
That, in turn, could save taxpayer dollars and free up officers for other calls.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe see it all the time where we go and we address the situation. Then, if they commit a crime, they go to jail, then they get out, or they are referred to some type of resource and they don\u2019t follow through with it,\u201d Bennett said. \u201cWe want to be that connection to help them follow up on their mental health appointments or any resources that they have.\u201d<\/p>\n
The program has only just begun, but Bennett said the department has already seen the difference it can make.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur detective immediately responded over to this apartment,\u201d he said of a recent call involving a man in crisis. \u201cThey had a conversation, and we provided him with some resources and we prevented him from doing something that would affect many lives in his family. And so, we believe, as we continue through this program, that\u2019s just the beginning of some of the success stories we see with this program.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Bennett, the follow-up component is what matters most.<\/p>\n
He believes consistent contact can help community members see officers not as enforcers looking to make arrests, but as partners who can connect them with real help.<\/p>\n
The detective will also receive advanced mental health training and then use that expertise to help train others in the department, strengthening Clearfield\u2019s overall response to these kinds of calls.<\/p>\n
The program is funded for two years by a grant from the Utah Legislature.<\/p>\n
After that, the department will evaluate its results and determine whether to continue or expand the effort.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are a lot of acute behavioral needs in our community and we want to be able to provide that resource,\u201d Bennett said. \u201cAnd when we have that, it builds trust with the detective and in our community and we feel that builds better relationships.\u201d<\/p>\n
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