In a recent column about the possible use of Tasers by the SFPD, I touched on the subject of police interaction with people who are mentally ill. I mentioned that about 10 percent of the police workday is taken up with dealing with mental health issues, with about 16 people per day being held for psychological evaluation.

Section 5150 of the California Welfare and Institutions Code allows a police officer to confine a person involuntarily when that person is deemed to have a mental disorder and is a danger to himself or herself or others, or is gravely disabled. A study covering a three-month period in 2009 showed that SFPD made use of Section 5150 on 843 occasions involving 638 different individuals. Over 90 percent of the people detained were judged to be a danger to themselves, but over one third were also judged to be a danger to others.

The SFPD policy outlines three methods of dealing with the psychologically distressed:

1. If the individual has not committed a crime and is not judged to be a danger to himself or others, and appears to be able to care for himself, then the officer should recommend that the individual contact a mental health professional.

2. If the individual has not committed a crime but is judged to be a danger to himself or herself or others, or appears unable to care for himself or herself, then the officer should detain the individual under Section 5150 for psychiatric evaluation and treatment.|

3. If the individual has committed a crime, he or she should be arrested and then referred for psychiatric evaluation.

SFPD has a Crisis Intervention Training (CIT) course that was introduced in 2001. It covers such subjects as communication techniques, active listening, mental disorders, personality disorders, community resources, and the proper use of Section 5150. In 2004, the CIT program was reviewed by the Department of Public Health by questioning nearly 200 officers who had completed the CIT course. About three quarters of the officers said that the training had changed their approach to working with the mentally ill, that they had a better understanding of the behavior and symptoms, and they were able to react with more compassion, empathy and patience.

The statistics show that, in the normal course of duty, most SFPD officers will have to deal with people suffering from mental health problems. The police, and not the doctors, are often the front line in these situations. It is important that the SFPD continue to teach and improve CIT courses and to work with public health authorities to bring all available resources to the aid of mentally ill people as soon as possible. In those circumstances where the mentally ill person is using a deadly weapon to threaten himself or herself or others, it is also important that officers have access to nonlethal means, such as Tasers, to disarm the person and get them to medical care as soon as possible.

Alan Silverman is a Marina resident and a board member of the Marina Community Association. E-mail: [email protected]