MORRISTOWN, Tenn. — One statistic captures a serious challenge facing law enforcement officers across the country. 1 in 4 people with a serious mental illness has been arrested at some point in their lifetime. The National Alliance on Mental Illness says jails across America book more than 2 million people suffering a serious mental illness every year.
The Morristown Police Department holds a 40-hour crisis intervention team training class once a year. According to MPD, there were about 187 mental health encounters for its officers last year. Michelle Jones, the administrative deputy chief, said this need for crisis intervention continues to grow.
"Recognizing signs and symptoms of mental illness," said Jones. "We hear from individuals who are suffering from mental illness and their experiences, and hearing that firsthand has a great impact on the first responders that are in our class."
Jones said the officers then practice the skills they learn by role-playing different situations. In 2017, Morristown PD partnered with McNabb Center to bring the first training. The next training was in 2022, and the National Alliance on Mental Illness Tennessee became a partner in addition to the other local first responders.
"It's not just us that we're responding to individuals in our community who are having a mental health crisis, it's all first responders," said Jones.
Agencies like the Morristown Fire Department, the Hamblen County Sheriff's Department, and Morristown-Hamblen EMS have joined.
"We're seeing more of those people all the time. And in the basic rookie schools that we have, we didn't really have any training or information on this subject," said Lt. Matthew Cober, of the Morristown Fire Department. "So it's been a great, great resource used at a time or two already since the class."
Jones says first responders tell her they use the skills they learned every day they go out. She said this training is meant to deter those in crisis from being arrested and help them with resources in the community.
"If we can create partnerships in our community, with first responders with behavioral health services, with the emergency room services and those other community resources, then we can have better outcomes," said Jones. "One of the things that we learn about are the behavioral health services that are available in Morristown, Hamblen County. We learn about community resources, those agencies that are available to help with food, to help with money, to pay utility bills to help with housing, and so they learn about those as well. And then when it's appropriate to divert those individuals to those services, or to divert or help their families get connected, because if we can create those connections... if we can create those ties in the community, they're more likely to stay in an appropriate treatment program and out of jail."
The next Morristown/Hamblen County crisis intervention team training will be held this September.