Grand Jury Urges Including Mental Health Workers in More Police Calls

Citing two unrelated shootings that led last year to the deaths of a Simi Valley police officer and a mentally disturbed Santa Paula man, the Ventura County Grand Jury on Wednesday recommended including mental health workers in more police calls.

“When the police receive a call that [deals with a mentally disturbed person], it should trigger an immediate call to the Mental Health Department Crisis Team,” stated an interim report released late Wednesday.

County mental health Director Randall Feltman said grand jury members interviewed him and his staff after the fatal shooting of Simi Valley Police Officer Michael Clark in August.

Schoolteacher Daniel A. Tuffree is accused of shooting Clark during a gunfight after the officer responded to a “check welfare” call at Tuffree’s home. The county’s Mental Health Crisis Team originally received the call, but transferred it to police because it did not have any workers available to send.

“I am very pleased with the report,” said Richard Holly, Tuffree’s attorney. “There is no doubt in my mind that if a crisis team responded [to Tuffree’s house], this tragedy could have been averted.”

Tuffree has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and faces trial in March. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

In May, Ventura police fatally shot a club-wielding 28-year-old Ernesto Garcia, who had escaped from the Ventura County Medical Center. Police were cleared of any wrongdoing; mental health workers were on the scene when Garcia was shot.

“As tragic as it was, the workers felt the officer had no choice--he was backed up against a wall,” Feltman said.

In fact, the grand jury report recommended that law enforcement agencies throughout Ventura County take a cue from the relationship established between the Ventura Police Department and the county Mental Health Services Department.

The Ventura Police Department uses the county’s Mobile Crisis Team more frequently than the rest of the police agencies in Ventura County, the grand jury reported.

Feltman said his office is talking with Oxnard and Simi Valley police about setting up a response system similar to the one used in Ventura, which includes regular meetings between police officers and mental health counselors.

In addition, the report recommends that police help the county pay for more crisis team workers and include a backup crisis team for eastern Ventura County.

Currently, 20 workers staff crisis teams that are on call 24 hours a day in the west county, while five counselors operate the east county team 12 hours a day.

“This report shows the value of these teams,” Feltman said. “If we have to make cuts in our department, it won’t be there.”

The report also addressed a handful of other issues, including the need to find funding for Ventura County’s libraries.

The report suggested that library officials investigate establishing a joint-powers agreement between the cities and Ventura County based on a similar plan used in Santa Clara County.

“I am just tickled that the grand jury has considered this an issue that needs to be addressed,” said Dixie Adeniran, Library Services Agency director. Adeniran said she and her staff are investigating the joint-powers arrangement, which she called a “very positive idea.”