Help with police responses

In the wake of recent fatal shootings by local law enforcement officers, the Butte County affiliate of the National Alliance on Mental Illness and local police departments are developing a program that addresses situations in which officers respond to those with mental problems.

“It invites the officer to step out of an enforcement mode and into a public service mode,” Capt. Andy Duch of the Butte County Sheriff’s Office told California Healthline.

In that same article, which announces the program, Lynn Graebner writes: “When law enforcement and people experiencing a mental health crisis intersect, it’s often not clear to either of them what they are dealing with or how to proceed. A new program in Butte County seeks to make those encounters safer for everyone.”