Two police departments in Dutchess
County are sharing improvements when dealing with mental health crisis calls.
Beacon Police Department is one
of the two agencies in the county
to add a behavioral specialist to its team.
"The call might not come across as emotional disturbed or something like
that. But it can turn out to be that,” says Lashaveous Dicker.
One incident included a woman he
helped to seek mental health help by getting on the ground to talk with her
while she was in distress in a fetal position. "It's a win-win. If I'm
able to help one person, I feel I did my job. But I want to try to help everybody
that I can. Because that's what I enjoy doing,” says Dicker.
Dicker is employed by Mental Health
America of Dutchess County - the agency partnering with willing departments to
deploy their experts.
The first police department in
Dutchess County to team up with MHA was the city of Poughkeepsie.
"If you can help someone, why
wouldn't you?,” says
behavioral specialist Linwood Burke.
Burke has assisted Poughkeepsie
police with mental health crisis calls since September 2020.
Incidents Burke has de-escalated
include convincing a knife-wielding
man to put his weapon down and go to a hospital
safely.
"I probably met that gentleman
on one of his worst days. But myself and with the officers, we were able to speak to him and get him to calm down…You ask me
why I do what I do. That right there would probably be at the top. That's the
reason right there,” says Burke.
News 12 is told the behavioral
specialists are tasked with helping those dealing with mental health issues,
addictions and other issues
to understand there’s help available and, if need be, connect them to a case manager.
Mental Health America of Dutchess
County typically costs $70,000 to assign one of its experts to police departments.
Dicker and Burke are contracted to
work for a year and say they hope to continue helping those in need.