PPB Reminder of Behavioral Health Public Meeting and Statistics

Portland Police Badge

June 23, 2021 16:16

***Correction--Link for report was adjusted***

The Portland Police Bureau wants to remind community members that its Behavioral Health Unit Advisory Committee is hosting its second community engagement meeting tonight, Wednesday, June 23 from 6-7:30 p.m. The Bureau has been posting this virtual meeting on its social media platforms. The zoom link is:
https://zoom.us/j/99216326419?pwd=VUhXdjR4eGgzRXkzcWN1c2FERVV3dz09

The meeting will discuss BHU programs, its history and their work, including recent statistics published by the Behavioral Health Unit. From January 01, 2020 through May 31, 2021, PPB was on the scene of 326,348 CAD calls for service in which an officer indicated whether the subject was suffering from an actual or perceived mental illness. Of those calls, in 28,173 (9%) an officer responded affirmatively that the subject was suffering from an actual or perceived mental illness. Of those calls, 193 (0.7%) indicated that a force incident occurred.

Under the guidance of the Behavioral Health Unit is the Enhanced Crisis Intervention Team. The ECIT operates as a detached part of the BHU, though these 140 ECIT officers are not relieved of regular patrol duties. These patrol officers have received at least 80 hours of mental health response training and are dispatched to mental health crisis calls if any of the following occur:

*Upon request of a citizen
*Upon request of a responding member
*The subject is violent
*The subject has a weapon
*The subject is threatening or attempting suicide
*The subject?s behavior is escalating the risk of harm to self or others
*The call is at a residential mental health facility

From January 01, 2020 through May 31, 2021, PPB was dispatched to 5,293 ECIT CAD calls for service. Of those 5,293 calls, in 87 (1.6%) indicated that a force incident occurred.

After a call is completed, the BHU has two follow-up functions to connect individuals to resources. PPB?s Behavioral Health Response Teams (BHRT) pair a patrol officer and a qualified mental health professional from Cascadia Project Respond. The Portland Police Bureau has three BHRT teams. The officers and mental health professionals work proactively with individuals who have a mental illness and are identified as having multiple or high-risk contacts with police. The BHRT teams work to connect individuals to appropriate community resources in order to reduce their frequency of contact with police. Referrals to the BHRT teams are made from patrol officers throughout the agency.

To read these most recent statistics, visit: https://www.portlandoregon.gov/police/article/784641

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