police station not far from where i live and i don't know what they do inside of the police station. they know what they're doing. they go outside and they get in cars and they have no idea what car to get in. they know which one. there are some things that i do now. she said, i know what is right and i know what is wrong and i know what it is kind and i know what is unkind and that is all i need to now. those words back in 1988. those officers that are very special and very unique, i will play a short video for you to

capture that heart of cit. >> i'm with a crisis intervention team i have had the opportunity to go through a -- process where we had to go through an interview and answer the question, of one to know about the experience. i did not know what to say at the time. i was growing up with my mother who had a mental illness.

it was very hard, it was like walking on eggshells constantly. you did not know what to say at certain times. there was a lot of anger issues, trying to help and not knowing what to do. for whatever reason, which will never know, it has left a

complete whole, this is like something i cannot describe the. i will always miss it. we don't really talk about it in. we have never been in groups about it. we do the best we can. when the opportunity became available to come and see us, i felt that the assumption that i had needed to do. i was able to help people. back i made it and i got through

the class. this was kind of stressful. working out what you would do in that case. that was a little stressful but this was a good experience and this has helped me to understand what exactly was going on with my mother on a personal level. the other cases, or people can take to help them. this is a healing process. >> ladies and gentlemen, this is our presentation we are very thankful for the kindness and hospitality that you have extended to us and we appreciate you examined this and looking at the crisis.

>> i am sure the commissioners will have some questions for you. if you have questions, we can move into them. we will have an overview of the model and we learned in los angeles. >> thank you very much. this evening, the policy analysts will discuss with you observations that she has made in the 10-years that she has studied police interaction with mentally ill in crisis. through the indication, they were able to observe model in memphis, tennessee as well as the lapd model.

-- has been committed to to excising the police department and making recommendations on how to enhance the interactions with mentally ill persons and crisis and i would like to give her the opportunity now to discuss the observations that she has made. >> good evening. i want to touch upon the agency history. i would like to address some of the highlights from the trip to memphis. there are a few aspects of the resolution before you that i would like to highlight. we play a unique role because

not only do we look at misconduct but we're able to make policy recommendations so we have this opportunity to meet with 20 members and hear their concerns as well as looking at this and do best practice research. in this role in the last decade, we have made a number of recommendations concerning the police response. some of them have involved training so that there is an increase escalation skills and tools and resources. the extended range impact weapon, another tool for officers, we have looked at that because mentally ill individuals is the last lethal weapon that is used for them. we're talking about ways that we can have a review this. most recently, we were invited

to provide recommendations and to work with the department. we are looking at the mental health response because of those 15 cases, five of those involved the cases that were mentally ill. we appreciated the opportunity that the department was giving to look at those kind of cases in general. at that time was when we provided a series of recommendations as to improve the mental health response. we have been talking with the individuals in memphis, talking with community individuals, we were able to put together recommendations that highlighted a way that it could be implemented. through the year, we spoke how to implement what we thought were the best components of the model. the chief agreed to look at the

memphis model and we greatly appreciate that. we went to see what the model was about. i want to make a few comments. before that trip, i had read everything possible. every article that had been written. why isn't being used about the country? as i read it materials, cit is not training alone. to be honest, i did not really understand. i understand what that means and i know that we and other departments have an excellent training so what they doing in memphis that is different? when i went there, the moment i began meeting with the individuals from insists, i

began to understand what is different. first of all, i met officers, mental health advocates, mental health providers, all of whom knew each other and knew what worked and you have been committed for many years to solve problems and who were communicating with each other. also i have met individuals who are passionate about the issues. that went from members of the police department to members of 58 hospital to the officers who drove us around. -- members of the v.a. hospital. this was overwhelming. it was what i brought back and what i wanted to meet with and speak with my director at meet with people to be able to convey that level of commitment and compassion and work. that is one of the key

components that i took away was that type of partnership where there is leadership from the resmae segments where i was meeting with leaders from the police department and mental- health and the advocates of himself. there was that leadership, partnership, and commitment. the other aspect that was unique and different was the way in which officers operate. in addition to going through training, they volunteered to be officers which means there's something unique about them that they believed that their best to do this kind of work. there are officers to choose to be a different kind of specialist. the officers i met were -- officers and i wish they were able to communicate.

because they are selected, there was a process to insure that they were the best fit. there is a maturity level, a decision-making process. the other -- was that they wore a badge. this might not seem important. i thought, great, they have a badge. when i saw it, it was the difference between something in isolation and learn some skills and isolation valve. an officer that i went with recognize the badge. first of all, they had plenty of contact with those individuals and to talk to them and knew their history. they had a report in addition, because they wore the badge, other people knew who they work

and to new that they were special. they came with a special kind of skill and they were acknowledged and their department and that was the other piece. i was impressed with the level of respect that other officers had. the skill set that was respected. they were rewarded and commended for being able to use their desolation skills and able to strategizing and plan an incident that resulted not in a shooting but in the lack of a shooting. those were some of the main take a ways from that meant his trip and it was expiring. los angeles was inspiring. this is for different reasons. the commitment of the officers that we meant, their specialized

expertise was absolutely first- rate. the take away was to see how departments are training individuals to specialize. police departments are dedicating vast resources or the have employees who are resolving instances with the mentally ill. the programs they have was that they are a resource-rich department. the amount of funding and what is astounding so they have the units which have been discussed with turn not first responder units. these are units that after the patrol has gone out and secured the scene, if there is the availability of the smart units, there is a limited number, then

the model goes out and those are officers who are skilled in handling mentally ill calls as well as clinicians. they also have some other programs that enable them to redress the and address individuals who are frequently using services so they have an investigative team and a particular approach. this is a well-funded program. we thought that we should look at this more when we saw more funding. in terms of the components, i it is want to highlight one or two of those aspects. part of this does have a working good relationship with 911.

the ability to make sure that the officers are the first responders. this will take us to creative and address and build a small partnership. another aspect is the patrol division being cit drained. when there is a call, we should have those who are first responders. another has to do with those who are the lead officers. this is building upon the model and the department knows well

and we have supported it quite strongly. with that, i am happy to answer any questions. thank you for the opportunity to be a part of this discussion. >> if the commissioners don't have any questions, move on. >> our next speaker, thank you to the mental health providers. this is the president of the national alliance of mental and on the. course commissioners, -- >> commissioners, i appreciate the opportunity to be here.

we are friends of the family members of the mentally ill. typically, i am just reminding you that it is one of the drivers which helped to bring the program up and running in memphis. we are really hoping that you attack because of the good attributes you are starting to hear about. i will shorten my presentation on the agenda. obviously, there is increased efficiency and effectiveness. police are familiar with the delivery system and working with partners.

they're very comfortable. the day don't have to spend five hours waiting around in the er, etc.. this can let them miss -- respond appropriately and get back to their regular responsibilities. they are doing this because they're forced to go through training and might not have the interest to do so. there's also increased consumer safety and satisfaction. for consumers, the advantage is that you are more likely to get a prompt assessment right into treatment, not necessarily going directly to drill. the statistics to are those undiagnosed and sitting in jail and are actually in the state and federal prisons as pretty

appalling. being able to divert early and often is really key. the team, we have just heard -- are an elite team that knows how to work with mental-health professionals. they have developed cooperative and collaborative relationships. guests from memphis. i started to befriend a person who is involved in the v.a. program, the criminal justice program connected with the v.a. they found some great programs. just going out, just me, last night, at a meeting that angela put together, we already had some of the agencies that should have been talking together years

ago now working together. the v.a. and public defender's office sharing cases. no one can say it better than mr. "global connection" -- than mr. cochran. his understanding is interwoven within the framework of community partnerships. we hope that is coming to san francisco. fa you very much. -- thank you very much. commissioner chan: our next speaker. >> thank you.

by way of transition, i'm here from the l.a. department of health. i'm here -- glad to hear about the s.m.a.r.t. teams. i want to build on what has been mentioned here. i think resources are a big issue. i'm very gratified, the mental health association of san francisco is grad identified this initiative has come forward in a way that it -- i'm gratified this initiative has come forward in the way that it has. this is an important avenue for providing dignity. people with mental illness are treated badly, they feel badly about themselves, and are subject to many indignities.

our officers need to respond in a dignified fashion, and our people need to be treated with dignity, wherever they are in the system. most of the time people with mental illness are involved in infractions. as many of us know, people with mental illness are thrust into the criminal justice system because services are not there where they need to be. the connections are not made right. the services are not there to direct them into care instead of the forensic units. i think this is an important issue for san francisco to bring forward. i applaud it. i think the thinking in the resolution is well done and was very thorough. i want to circle back to this resource issue. i heard sam cochran say the magic word, "free." i know we like to hear that in

these budget times, but i would urge you to put the money into this, because it needs to succeed. this program is going to make a huge difference for our society. >> we will circle back to that question when we have the q & a part. >> we have next miss joe robinson who is the director of the community behavioral health. thank you for joining us tonight. >> thank you, commissioners. i am jill robinson. i am the director of public health and the community behavioral health services. i want to speak from my prior position, which was for over 25 years, the director for jail psychiatric services. i have experience from seeing the population that went to the jail. this service, training of officers, is extremely

important. to let you know, last year, jail psychiatric services saw over r5,000 individuals -- saw over 5,000 individuals that had some type of mental health issue when they entered the jail. the community mental health services saw over 25,000. so you can see -- yeah, i see you shaking your head. so 5,000 is a lot. and your officers are the ones that have an ipt action with -- have an interaction with those individuals. i have met many of your officers. through the training we have had previously, they are very good individuals, and many of them have passion for this. many of them volunteered to take the class that was previously

being taught. so you have good candidates already. let me -- i was asked by the commissioner to speak about some of the services that we have in the community. so i'll put on my new hat. there are 24 beds in our psyche emergency, which is a 24-hour service. last year there were around 63 -- 6,300 admits to that service. there is an urgent care, which is another 24-hour. these are people that may or may not -- not quite meet involuntary status. there are 12 beds for that. there is a sobering center. and another nonmedical center. about 43 beds for that.

there is a drop-in service, west side. they have hours for drop-in, but they don't go into the evening. so again, your officers do not have that available to them. you can see the evening services are limited. we do have mobile crisis, which is not a 24-hour service. it goes to 11:00 at night. one thing i will commit, if it is not me it will be someone from my staff as part of the mental health working group. i will be here for any questions you might have about the department of public health or public health services and how we can participate in this worth

while endeavor. commissioner chan: thank you for that commitment. that is very helpful inform have. -- to have. our next speaker is ms. brooks, the director of the mental health board. >> thank you, commissioners, for looking at this issue this evening, and for chief godown for a new openness in looking at the police department. my name is helena brook and i'm director of the mental health board. with a group of people from mental health, we could collaborated and created the training that existed -- we co-collaborated and created the training that existed for the past 10 years. i applaud the continuation of training ever all the officers. the training that has been a

collaborative effort between the police department and mental health has trained nearly 1,000 officers appropriately to help people with mental illness and help them get help. these don't make the front-page news. i want to emphasize that through the training from meeting the officers in the san francisco police department, we have a tremendous department that do care about the citizens of san francisco. during the past 10 years the department also funded research about the type of training and the type of calls that people get and the number of calls from people with mental illness. results show they found the training useful and led to a change in their attitude. many officers sate -- said it was the best training they have had in the police force. it helped officers identify a person and communicate with them more effectively. officers also said the training officers also said the training provided them with more