Harrisonburg | Police officers to team up with mental-health professional for crisis calls

The Harrisonburg Police Department has launched its mental health co-responder program for emergency calls that report someone is in crisis.

The HPD first discussed the program nearly a year ago and said it would be implemented once key staff positions could be filled including a co-responder mental health clinician.

The department announced today that Raz Ahmed has been hired and is currently in the onboarding process to complete training. She holds a master’s degree in social work and has experience in the healthcare field in the Harrisonburg-Rockingham County area.

Calls for service related to behavioral health are among the police department’s most frequent calls for service.

The response with a clinician is geared to de-escalate crisis calls resulting in fewer arrests and hospitalizations. The goal is also to provide follow-up and connect individuals to treatment and support.

Approximately 90 percent of HPD personnel have received Crisis Intervention (CIT) and Integrating Communications, Assessment and Tactics (ICAT) training.

However, in a previous interview with AFP, HPD Captain Jason Kidd said that training in the classroom is different than being faced with situations in real-time.

“We’re putting an officer in a situation that is really challenging, and so to put those officers in those situations without an extensive training in these topics, it is a really tough situation,” Kidd said. “They’re put into a situation where they’re dealing with someone who’s having their worst day, and the challenge there is that police officer has to make split-second decisions with limited information and limited training.”

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Kidd told AFP that he hopes officers will learn from the mental-health professional when they respond to calls jointly.

“We really feel that by pairing the officers with someone who really is that subject matter expert in the field of psychology or social work, that’s really going to connect that officer with the resources he or she’s going to need to make the best decisions in the field and really best assess the most favorable outcome for that individual in crisis.”

The HPD crisis team will work with partner agencies including the Harrisonburg-Rockingham Community Services Board, Rockingham County Sheriff’s Office, Harrisonburg Fire Department and James Madison University to “ensure a coordinate and compassionate response across Harrisonburg,” according to a news release.

The initiative is funded through a three-year grant from the Bureau of Justice Assistance.

This week, Sept. 14-20, is recognized National Co-Responder and Crisis Responder Week, celebrating the crisis teams who work to meet the rising demand for mental health and substance use services.