GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – Two Green Bay Police officers are being recognized for their outstanding community policing and problem solving efforts.
Mental health officers Barb Gerarden and Kamra Allen have won the statewide Sir Robert Peel Award for their project “Crisis Response-Problem Oriented Policing Initiative.”
It focuses on improving police response to mental health and crisis related calls.
Gerarden says “all of these initiatives really help to decriminalize people with mental illness and help get them connected to help.”
The main areas of focus have been the emergency detention process, using the mental health court as a jail diversion, and collabroating with adult protective services.
The department added the full-time mental health positions in early 2017.
One year in, Gerarden notes the biggest obstacle they still face.
“There’s the pyschiatrist shortage and nursing shortage that’s preventing people from getting volunteer treatment yet, so they end up becoming an emergency detention.”
However, Gerarden says their efforts have been able to reduce emergency detentions by roughly 10%.
She notes one example of a client showing improvement.
“He found a purse with like $500 in it. He said he really struggled and that it was tempting, but he did the right thing and returned it to police.”
Allen says they’re looking into an additional policy they learned about at a Florida conference, which could help build on their efforts.
“Make the assessment with the person in their home. They determine that they need to be taken into protective custody, and they go to one facility. Those people immediately get help by mental health professionals and not police, so it reduces the amount of people going into the jail.”
The award will be presented at February’s Wisconsin Association of Community Oriented Policing Conference at downtown Green Bay’s Hyatt Conference Center.
