Philadelphia Police Learning Effective, Impactful Responses For Dealing With Mental Health Cases
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The Philadelphia Police Department's mission to protect and serve continues to evolve. Officers are getting assistance with mental health cases to determine the most effective and impactful forms of response.
Officers knowing how to respond to a 911 call is crucial information, giving them an idea of what they could find. Because of this, the department has implemented additional steps to clarify what exactly they're walking into.
The death of a Philadelphia man who was allegedly having a psychotic episode during a deadly hit and run rampage has sparked questions about how the Philadelphia Police Department handles crisis situations.
Kareem Welton faces an attempted murder charge after going on a hit and run spree, killing 31-year-old Andrina Moreno and ending with his arrest. Family members say he had a psychotic break before the event.
Family members told CBS3 they called 911, but authorities left after finding out that Welton had already left. The department says this wasn't their first call for his behavior.
The Philadelphia Police Department says determining what calls to handle isn't easy.
"The biggest problem is identifying the calls that are crisis-related," Inspector Francis Healy tells Eyewitness News. "Not just mental health."
In 2020, Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw created a more detailed protocol on helping dispatchers get the right information from callers. This included crisis training and a specific questionnaire for calls relating to mental health.
Over the last year, the department added four teams of behavioral health experts; they go out with officers during known crises. The department wants to establish a new behavioral health unit, complete with trained experts.
Inspector Healy says ideas like these will save lives.
"These people are in crisis they're not criminals often times," he says. "Our job is to help people and not hurt them."
The staff of Steak 48 will hold a benefit dinner for Moreno, who worked there. Welton and the police response to previous calls involving him are still under investigation.
