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Programs pairing police with mental health professionals to respond to calls involving persons in mental health crises are becoming widespread. Police and clinicians handle some crises better together...
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I will never forget responding to a 911 call downtown and seeing a six-foot-five man in sandals and a long, flowing dress screaming and yelling on the street corner. He started walking out into traffi...
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Autism. Williams syndrome. Alzheimer’s. Schizophrenia. These terms are often scary to any neurotypical police officer or layperson who has never personally encountered a person with one or more of t...
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Kevin had been “involved” with the criminal justice system for his entire adult life. By the time he was 32, he had been incarcerated nine times for offenses ranging from shoplifting to larceny....
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Overdoses are ravaging the United States. Over the last two decades, more than 750,000 people have died as a result of a drug overdose, and in this same time, overdose deaths involving opioids have in...
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The background investigation may be the most critical element in hiring a new officer. This labor-intensive process usually takes months and has traditionally resulted in reams of paperwork. Bu...
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In 1999, I was a young patrol sergeant working in a new division. Late one evening, I responded to a supervisor request on a domestic violence call in which the suspect attempted to stab his wife with...
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Like many police agencies, the Houston, Texas, Police Department (HPD) has seen an increase in public demands over the past several years in responding to those individuals exhibiting a mental illnes...
