Whittier police launch mental evaluation team

Posted on October 22, 2016 by Brian Day

WHITTIER >> A new mental evaluation team dedicated to dealing with community members with mental health issues has taken to the streets of Whittier and Santa Fe Springs, officials said.
The Whittier Mental Evaluation Team, comprised of one sworn police officer and once licensed clinician, began operating on Sept. 20, Whittier police officials said in a written statement.
The team was formed in partnership with the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health, “ to address the growing need for mental health services in our community,” according to the statement.
“This cooperative effort revolves around a co-response model that includes a licensed clinical social worker — provided by the LACDMH — and a sworn police officer provided by the Whittier Police Department to aid our patrol officers in handling calls for service involving persons who may be suffering from a mental health crisis or be in need of social services as well as building cooperative relationships with other service providers in the Whittier area,” according to the statement.
The team is currently made up of Officer Devin McClure and DMH Clinician Geraldine “Geri” Zuniga.
They patrol on weekdays, but can be called upon to assist at other times as well, Lt. Bryan Ellis said. In the month that they’ve been on-duty, the team has been “very active,” he added.
In addition to responding to “critical in-progress” incidents, the team will also work to address other mental health-related issues such as homeless outreach.
“Additionally, WMET will provide extensive follow up and case management for individuals with chronic mental illness, substance abuse, and homelessness,” according to the statement. “ By addressing these concerns on a regular basis, WMET can help to alleviate the burden placed on patrol resources and provide expert assistance to those in need.”

Report of hostage situation in Azusa proves unfounded

Posted on October 12, 2016 by Brian Day

AZUSA >> A SWAT team responded to an Azusa neighborhood after a report of a man possibly being held hostage in his apartment late Tuesday, but ultimately encountered only a heavily intoxicated man who was taken for psychiatric evaluation, officials said.
The incident began about 9 p.m. in the 700 block of South Lark Ellen Avenue, Azusa police officials said.
A woman notified police that she had received text messaged from her boyfriend “that indicated he was possibly being held hostage by unknown persons,” Cpl. Tom Avila said.
Based on the information provided, police summoned a SWAT team to the scene, he said.
Once the home was surrounded, SWAT officers ordered anyone inside the apartment to come out, Avila said. The lone resident emerged from the home, unharmed, but apparently highly intoxicated.
No one else was inside the apartment, and there was no evidence a crime had occurred, according to the corporal.
Officials took the man for psychiatric evaluation and announced the situation was over shortly after 11 p.m.

Pasadena woman taken for psychiatric evaluation following window smash spree in Sierra Madre, Arcadia

Posted on June 19, 2016 by Brian Day

Police took a woman for psychiatric evaluation after a rock-throwing vandalism spree that caused thousands of dollars worth of damage to cars and buildings in Sierra Madre and Arcadia early Saturday.
The woman, a 35-year-old Pasadena resident, was expected to face vandalism charges once released from the hospital, Sierra Madre police officials said in a written statement.
The alleged rock rampage unfolded between about 7 and a.m., officials said.
Sierra Madre police received reports that the windows of three buildings and one car in their city had been smashed with rocks.
“While officers from the Sierra Madre Police Department were investigating the incidents, they soon learned that numerous locations were also vandalized with rocks in the City of Arcadia,” according to the statement.
Several cars at the Westfield Santa Anita shopping mall, another car at the north end of Arcadia and a glass door at the Arboretum had also had their windows smashed with rocks, Arcadia police Sgt. Dan Crowther said.
Crowther spotted a car matching the description of the Sierra Madre vandal driving in Arcadia about 8 a.m., he said. He pulled over the car and detained the woman driving without incident.
“(A) witness positively identified the vehicle and the female driver as the one seen leaving the scene of one of the vandalisms that occurred in Sierra Madre,” the Sierra Madre police statement said. “During an inventory search of the suspect’s vehicle, numerous rocks — similar to the rocks found at the above crime scenes — were located inside the cab of the car.”
Police in Arcadia were still seeking witnesses Sunday to link the woman to the vandalisms in their city, Crowther said.
The woman appeared to be suffering from psychiatric issues and was taken to a hospital for a mental health evaluation, officials said.
She faces potential charges of felony vandalism once released from treatment, police added.
The value of the damage in Sierra Madre was estimated at more than $3,000. An estimate of the damage in Arcadia was not available.

Police mental evaluation team formed to serve the San Gabriel Valley

Posted on December 12, 2015 by Brian Day

Police in Covina, West Covina, Azusa, Glendora and Los Angeles County have teamed up to create a specialized team to deal with people suffering from mental health crises.
The newly-formed East San Gabriel Mental Evaluation Team began last month and provides mental health intervention services 40 hours a week in the four cities it serves, Covina police officials said in a written statement.
The team consists of one police officer and one mental health clinician, officials explained. Each participating department provides a police officer for 10 hour each week to partner with the clinician, provided by the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health.
Police formed the team in response to a “significant increase” in police contacts with people with troubled mental states, police said.
“For the last several years, front line law enforcement has become first responders to more and more incidents involving those in our communities in need of mental health services,” Covina Police Chief Kim Raney said. “By having a mental health clinician embedded in our patrol cars 40 hours a week, this is a tremendous opportunity to provide services to those in need.”
The ESGMET team is designed to help police deal with the mentally ill in a more compassionate and productive manner than is otherwise possible, police said. Instead of only being able to provide short-term solutions, such as 72-hour psychiatric holds, the program also allows departments to offer more long-term help such as case management, homeless outreach, crisis intervention and additional resources and referrals.
The program is similar to others already operating in the region, such as the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Mental Evaluation Team, also known as MET, the Pasadena Police Department’s Homeless Outreach-Psychiatric Evaluation, or HOPE, team and the Los Angeles Police Department’s Mental Evaluation Unit.

Family dispute briefly shuts down 210 Freeway in Pasadena Thanksgiving night

Posted on November 27, 2015 by Brian Day

PASADENA >> A family disturbance inside a car prompted authorities to briefly shut down the westbound 210 Freeway in Pasadena late Thanksgiving Day, authorities said.
The incident began about 9:30 p.m. in the westbound lanes of the 210 Freeway, just east of Madre Street, California Highway Patrol Officer Michelle Bond said.
Pasadena police officers were the first to respond to reports of a dispute involving a family in a vehicle, Pasadena police Lt. Jesse Carrillo said. A family member had not taken his psychiatric medication, and officials received reports he had run into traffic lanes during the family disturbance.
Officers arrived to find family members working to restrain the man, Carrillo said. As a precaution, authorities shut down westbound traffic lanes as they detained the man and ultimately took him for psychiatric evaluation.
Traffic lanes began reopening one by one about 10 minutes later, Bond said.
No injuries were reported.

South Pasadena police disarm mentally disturbed woman brandishing gardening shears

Posted on October 8, 2015 by Brian Day

SOUTH PASADENA >> Police disarmed and detained a mentally disturbed woman Wednesday after she threatened to harm herself, then the officers, with a pair of gardening shears, officials said.
Officers first responded about 2:40 p.m. to the 600 block of Fair Oaks Avenue, just south of the 110 Freeway, after receiving reports of a woman walking down the street while screaming and acting violently, Pasadena police Sgt. Brian Solinsky said in a written statement. She was holding a pair of shears.
“Several officers responded and attempted to calm the woman, but were unsuccessful,” Solinsky said. “The woman grew more agitated and aggressive by the second, changing from holding the shears near her neck to pointing them at the officers and keeping them at bay.”
Officers managed to distract the woman long enough to allow another officer to rush up behind the woman, grab her arms and knock the shears away from her, the sergeant said.
Officials took the woman, 33, to a hospital for evaluation and treatment, he said. The sergeant praised the work of the officers in bringing the tense situation to a peaceful end.
“The officers showed amazing restraint in an incident that presented various tactical and officer safety dilemmas,” Solinsky said. “The officers were able to stop the woman before hurting herself or anyone else.”

Man smashes 27 large window panes at Alhambra courthouse

Posted on May 2, 2015 by Brian Day

ALHAMBRA >> A seemingly mentally disturbed man smashed tens of thousands of dollars worth of windows at the front of Alhambra Superior Court Saturday afternoon, police said.
Twenty-seven 3-foot-wide by 12-foot-tall window panes were destroyed in the vandalism, Alhambra police Lt. Jennifer Wiese said. The man told police he was upset over a pending court case, and also that he was hearing voices.
Police received an anonymous call about 3:20 p.m. from a witness reporting a man was smashing windows at the courthouse, 150 W. Commonwealth Avenue, Wiese said.
As officers exited the police station, which sits across the street from the courthouse, “We could hear windows breaking,” the lieutenant said.
The man complied with officers’ orders to lie down and surrender, the lieutenant said. Officials took the man for psychiatric evaluation and treatment of cuts to his arms suffered while smashing the windows with a trash can and a rock.
Police planned to seek a felony vandalism charge against the man. It was unclear whether drugs or alcohol played a role in the incident.

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