Police to Serve on New Mental Health Panel

Hoping to stem a rash of deadly confrontations between police and mentally ill suspects, the Ventura County Mental Health Board has formed a special task force with representatives from every police agency in the county.

Officials said the task force is being created because too many emotionally disturbed people have been killed by police officers during such incidents.

Police find themselves trying to resolve difficult situations that they may not be properly trained to handle, said Neal Andrews, chairman of the Mental Health Board.

“They sometimes face a ‘Sophie’s Choice’ between controlling the threat presented by a mentally ill patient violently or risking an innocent individual or their own lives,” said Andrews as he announced the panel’s formation at a Board of Supervisors meeting Tuesday.

Ventura County Sheriff Bob Brooks will chair the task force along with psychologist Hedda Markham of the Mental Health Board, Andrews said. Every police chief in the county has agreed to participate or appoint a high-level representative, he said.

Markham is a psychologist who has worked in the Los Angeles Police Department’s psychology program. That Los Angeles unit teams mental health clinicians with police officers to teach law enforcement better ways to manage potentially threatening situations, Andrews said.

Mental Health Board members have been working to bring such a program to Ventura County for a year. It is unfortunate, Andrews said, that the task force is being rolled out after the recent police shooting of 23-year-old Robert Lee Jones.

Jones’ mother, Ida Perkins, had called authorities for help when her son began acting oddly and grabbed a knife. Oxnard police fatally shot Jones while he was hiding in his bedroom closet.

Jones was the fifth man shot to death by Oxnard police since January. Police have said that four of the shooting victims were mentally ill or emotionally disturbed.

Brooks said his department has met periodically with mental health officials over the years to talk about ways to de-escalate violent confrontations. But an effort to bring all the county’s police agencies together with mental health advocates is unprecedented, the sheriff said.

“This brings all the players to one table and on a regular basis,” he said. “We hope to work together more effectively and pass information more effectively.”

Jones’ parents had a mixed reaction to the task force.

Stephen Perkins, Jones’ stepfather, said the effort is good if it is done in earnest. The public should be offered some kind of proof that training is actually taking place, Perkins said.

“It’s too little, too late for us,” he said. “But it might prevent some other person from being killed.”

Ida Perkins said she is skeptical and still angry after watching police kill the son she was trying to help.

“I don’t trust anything the police say,” she said.

A well-regarded model for police to follow when dealing with mentally ill people already exists, Andrews said. The “Memphis Model” trains police in how to identify mental disorders and how those with mental illness are likely to respond when approached.

At least two Ventura police officers and one sheriff’s official have already been trained in these strategies, Andrews said. Local departments could take advantage of that knowledge and expand it to other agencies, he said.

Cost will be one immediate challenge, Andrews said. Mental Health Board officials have estimated that it will cost at least $1 million to formulate a countywide strategy and train officers.

Supervisor John Flynn, who sits on the Mental Health Board, said he is encouraged by the steps taken. He said the county could seek grants to pay for training costs or could set up a funding agreement that includes other local jurisdictions.

“There are a lot of entities involved and if everyone chips in, we can do it,” the Oxnard supervisor said.