Video Calls Help Officers Deal with Mental Health Crises

Americans have been calling on police to change how they deal with citizens in crises¹, especially those with mental health problems.

Police are usually the first to arrive at a serious incident and are trained to deal with crime and violent behavior. But a law enforcement agency in the central state of Illinois has found a new way to deal with mental health cases. It is using video calls to calm difficult situations.

Restrictions² ordered to stop the spread of the new coronavirus have left many people alone in their homes without support. Many people are unable to find mental health services or unwilling³ to go out and risk getting COVID-19. The Cook County sheriff's office has faced many emergency calls about suicide⁴ or other mental health crises recently.

Sheriff Tom Dart⁵ leads the Cook County sheriff's office. In the United States, a sheriff is a law enforcement officer who serves parts of a state that are not part of a city or town. Emergency calls to Dart's office involving mental health problems have increased by 60 percent this year. Dart said police officers are being asked more and more to arrive first to mental health cases. He said officers are being asked to do things they are not trained for or for which they have little training.

Dart said some programs have mental health professionals riding in a vehicle with law enforcement officers. That works for smaller communities. But Cook County, which includes the city of Chicago, is very big.

Dart asked, "How many ambulances would we have to buy and how many would we have to hire to man them all?"

"We wanted a tool for the officers to get that mental health expert on the scene immediately," said Elli Petaque-Montgomery, a team director.

So far, the department has 70 personal electronic devices. They are used to make video calls. The department bought 35 with aid money when the program began. It bought 35 more when it became clear the number of calls, which is now past 50, would increase.

Sometimes a lack of wireless⁶ service or another reason has not permitted a video call. The department said this has happened 20 times. In those cases, officers set up a telephone call between the person in crisis⁷ and a mental health professional.

Four mental health experts have been joined by four more to answer calls. Dart said the cost of the experts and the devices is much less than what it would cost to send out many mental health professionals with police. But, such a program cannot work unless police officers are ready to accept it.

Using video calls during a crisis

Bonnie Busching is an officer with the sheriff's office. She answered a call in which a man was striking⁸ his head on the ground to harm himself. When the man began threatening to use a knife, Busching sent an officer to bring the device for a video call. She watched the man immediately calm down when he began talking to the woman on the other end.

"People spend a lot of time on electronic devices, they're comfortable with them and they feel safer talking face to face with a person," said Petaque-Montgomery, who was on the other end of the call. She said that by handing the man the device, Busching showed a level of trust.

For Busching, questions about the device and concerns of what could happen if she forcibly restricted the man disappeared when the situation ended quietly.

"He gave me his hand and walked to the ambulance with me," she said.

Words in This Story

department – n. one of the major parts of a company, organization, government, or school

ambulance – n. a vehicle used for taking hurt or sick people to the hospital especially in emergencies

hire – v. to give work or a job to (someone) in exchange for wages or a salary

scene – n. the place of an event or action

comfortable – adj. permitting you to be relaxed: causing no worries, difficulty, or uncertainty

1 crises   

n. 危机；危险期

参考例句：

• Economic crises recur periodically. 经济危机周期性地发生。
• Great crises often call forth gifted leaders. 危急存亡之际常能产生天才的领袖。

2 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

3 unwilling   

adj.不情愿的

参考例句：

• The natives were unwilling to be bent by colonial power.土著居民不愿受殖民势力的摆布。
• His tightfisted employer was unwilling to give him a raise.他那吝啬的雇主不肯给他加薪。

4 suicide   

n.自杀，自毁，自杀性行为

参考例句：

• The number of suicide has increased.自杀案件的数量增加了。
• The death was adjudged a suicide by sleeping pills.该死亡事件被判定为服用安眠药自杀。

5 dart   

v.猛冲，投掷；n.飞镖，猛冲

参考例句：

• The child made a sudden dart across the road.那小孩突然冲过马路。
• Markov died after being struck by a poison dart.马尔科夫身中毒镖而亡。

6 wireless   

adj.无线的；n.无线电

参考例句：

• There are a lot of wireless links in a radio.收音机里有许多无线电线路。
• Wireless messages tell us that the ship was sinking.无线电报告知我们那艘船正在下沉。

7 crisis   

n.危机，危急关头，决定性时刻，关键阶段

参考例句：

• He had proved that he could be relied on in a crisis.他已表明，在紧要关头他是可以信赖的。
• The topic today centers about the crisis in the Middle East.今天课题的中心是中东危机。

8 striking   

adj.显著的，惹人注目的，容貌出众的

参考例句：

• There is a striking difference between Jane and Mary.简和玛丽之间有显著的差异。
• What is immediately striking is how resourceful the children are.最令人注目的是孩子们的机智聪明。