CLERMONT, Fla. — The Clermont Police Department is working to roll out a new program that will better prepare officers for encounters with people who have mental illness.
Part of the program involved having a mental health professional out on the street with officers.
In March, Ian Saum was arrested for allegedly trying to attack a sex offender with a hammer.
Two years earlier, he went after deputies with a knife as they tried to stop him from committing suicide.
Saum survives, but police hope new, better and smarter training will prevent instances like those that happened with Saum from happening again.
Clermont police are learning through simulation training how to identify people with mental health problems and how to de-escalate a situation.
“Those cases are very different and very unique, and that’s why we’re offering our training to these officers,” said Clermont police Chief Charles Broadway.
The simulator is half the battle.
For the other half, the police department is teaming up with the county and LifeStream Behavioral Center to create a mobile crisis team.
“A licensed clinician will be along with our police officer to help divert that person from arrest to other alternatives,” said Broadway.
Broadway said the mental health professional will have an office at the department and someone from LifeStream Behavioral Center will be available 24/7 to help an officer or someone an officer is trying to help.
“With case management, get them set up with psychiatrists, get them a therapist and help them get continued care,” said Sinead O’Hare, of LifeStream Behavioral Center.
Experts said jail is not a good solution for someone with a mental illness and can cost taxpayers up to $82 a day, while treatment can cost $34 a day.
The program will be funded with a federal grant.
The simulation training was paid for with money seized from drug busts.
Cox Media Group
