Bass new strategy tobetter care for mentally ill

Over the past few years, there have been multiple incidents of police dealing with people in desperate situations that usually end up being a fatal interaction with the suspect. Upon review of the incidents, a pattern emerges, and it’s not necessarily police brutality or obsessive use of force, it’s the lack of training officers have when dealing with people who have mental health issues.
In 2023, 1,247 people were killed by police, with a reported 96 of those incidents involving people experiencing mental health issues or breakdowns in California alone. A reported 96 people were believed to be having a mental breakdown or diagnosed with a mental illness at time of phone call. Many people have come to speculate that the number could be higher. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass conducted a study examining more than 100 lethal police encounters throughout the country and found that at least 40 percent involved a mental health crisis.
After the study, Bass and other officials gathered together to create a plan to better assist people with mental illness and officers when encountering people with possible mental illness that would result in better outcomes. This plan became the 988 Crisis Lifeline. The Lifeline is a prevention line that connects professionals trained to help people who suffer from substance abuse, mental health issues, suicidal-related crises, emotional distress, and anything related to mental health breakdowns.
“We want everybody to know that there is hope and our trained professionals and counselors are available 247 to help those in need.” Wendy Martinez Farmer, VP of 988 Strategy, talked about the purpose and use of the 988 lifeline. ” Our individuals are trained to deal with crisis-related incidents that differ from 911. When you call 911, those operators decide who to contact to deal with the situation, while when you call us, you get directly connected to a professional.”
The 988 Crisis Lifeline went live in 2022, and the LAPD decided to direct the majority of crises to lifeline professionals and only get involved in the most dangerous or volatile situations. “I don’t think there’s ever going to be a situation where we can say law enforcement is not going to be” involved, said Jennifer Hallman, alternative crisis response manager for the mental health department. “But we want to make sure that we minimize that, right — that it’s not law enforcement just because they can get there faster or it’s what people know to do.”
The 988 Crisis Lifeline team members are trained to deal with all levels of a crisis, whether that is somebody wanting to talk and feel seen or heard or possibly deal with a life or death situation where not only do they de-escalation but call on a wide net of other trained professionals who can arrive on the scene to intervene and save a life. “Oftentimes we immediately try and get family on the phone when it comes to dire situations, and after that, we use our resources to get a person on the scene. Unless the person in need has a history of hurting themselves or others around them, we rarely get the police involved,” said Farmer in explaining the steps they take to handle our situation.
The 988 Crisis Lifeline is available and follows the same process throughout the country and is willing and ready to help anybody at a moment’s notice. You can learn more about the Lifeline by visiting www. 988Lifeline.org or calling and texting them at 988.