GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) – Mental health has become an increasingly important focus of the Green Bay Police Department with an estimated 30 percent of all calls having a mental health component.
Back in January, the department hired two full time officers who strictly work ‘mental health calls’ in the city.
WTAQ sat down with Officer Barb Gerarden and Officer Kami Allen to get a better idea of what they do every day.
Allen says no day is ever the same.
“A lot of people get into police work because they like that,” said Allen. “Typically my day…I have alerts on people so, say an officer makes contact with someone and they’re off their medication and they’re having some odd behavior and maybe they’re thinking it’s mental health related, they can put CCIT in the notes of the call and then I have an alert so anytime an officer puts CCIT, I get flagged on that call.”
CCIT stand for Community Crisis Intervention Team which Allen says is essentially the code officer use if they think someone is mentally ill.
According to NAMI, National Alliance on Mental Illness, one in four people have a mental health diagnosis.
Officer Gerarden says people with mental illness are more often victims than criminals although society paints a different picture.
“If someone comes in the lobby, it’s not uncommon that somebody’s upset or experiencing some type of symptoms whether it’s paranoia or homelessness,” said Gerarden. “We are also getting calls from social workers asking us to do a joint home visit with them when one of their clients isn’t doing well. We have a very good relationship with Adult Protective Services.”
In 2016 the Green Bay Police Department had almost 600 emergency medical commitments.
“Another huge thing we deal with is repeated calls with someone where maybe they’re calling in 2 or 3 times a day,” Allen said.
Their job is not easy but there are aspects that make it all work it.
“It’s just really knowing that you’re making a difference and that’s why we got into this,” said Gerarden.
See the entire interview in the latest episode of Green Bay Crime in the video above.
