mental health crises — All Content

When crisis workers, not traditional police, respond to calls about mental health

Police are often called on to respond to mental health emergencies. That could change, though, as cities across the country — including Minneapolis —consider defunding the police. What would an alternative model look like?

Help Now for a Coronavirus Mental Health Crisis

Call to Mind BlogSam ChooMarch 30, 2020COVID mental health, getting care, mental health crises

Prosecutor: Deputy ‘ignored the law and ignored the training’ when he shot suicidal man

But attorneys for Washington County sheriff’s deputy say Brian Krook had to shoot 23-year-old Benjamin Evans to protect himself, other deputies and the public

Alisa Roth, MPR NewsKatherine IchinoseMarch 11, 2020criminal justice, policing, mental health crises

In rural Minnesota, a scarcity of beds for people in crisis

Patients in need of inpatient psychiatric care are waiting days to be transferred to beds far from home.

A cry for help summoned the police — and ended in his death

One year ago, Keaton Larson was in crisis. He was shot by a police officer who came to help

MPR News, Alisa RothKatherine IchinoseNovember 21, 2019policing, mental health crises, gun violence

'Suicide by cop' is in the eye of the beholder

Say a person in psychological distress wants to die. So, he threatens the police, often by waving a knife or gun. (As with more generic forms of suicide, most cases involve men.) Then the officers are “forced” to kill him — to protect themselves and others. The scenario is often said to be suicide by cop. It’s generally agreed that some fatal police shootings are suicide by cop. The question is, which ones?

Alisa Roth, MPR NewsKatherine IchinoseSeptember 11, 2019suicide, policing, mental health crises

It’s more than just detox — Hennepin County has a new alternative to jail or ER for mental health crises

For a long time, the address 1800 Chicago in Minneapolis has been synonymous with detox. As in, end-of-the-road, hit-rock-bottom detox. Now Hennepin County is turning the facility into a one-stop shop for services ranging from detox to mental health care to help signing up for low-income housing. It’s designed to keep people with mental health and substance use problems out of jail and hospitals.

In St. Cloud, a new approach to dealing with mental health crises -- in jail and out

Stearns County officials estimate nearly two-thirds of people in the jail on any given day have a mental illness, either diagnosed or not .So Stearns County, along with CentraCare, local law enforcement and the St. Cloud VA, formed an action team of police, human services, probation agents and mental health workers. They meet and compare notes on people in jail or in the community who might benefit from intervention.