On Monday, March 4, 2019, at approximately 10:29 a.m., officers from the Sacramento Police Department (SPD) responded to the area of Tribute Road and Highway 160 regarding a male adult who was experiencing a mental crisis and threatening to jump off a highway overpass.

Once the call was received, dispatch personnel worked diligently to continually engage and reach out to the male to triage his crisis. This included utilizing de-escalation techniques over the phone while officers responded to the area.

Officers arrived on-scene and attempted to make contact with the male who was standing next to the rail of the overpass. As officers approached him, the male attempted to jump off the overpass onto the highway. Officers prevented him from jumping by pulling him away from the rail and safely detaining him. The male adult was transported to a local hospital for appropriate treatment.

Today SPD will release video material related to this incident. All video that will be released has been redacted to ensure the confidentiality and privacy of those involved. The faces have been blurred and audio redactions are signified by muted audio with no accompanying sound. The material consists of three body-worn camera videos and one in-car camera video. Click Here to view the videos.

The release of this material is done at the discretion of the Chief of Police to inform our community on the complex, difficult and dangerous job of our police officers and dispatchers. Moreover, it highlights the difficulties that can be associated with responding to people in crisis in our community. This incident does not fall under the City Council policy on Police Use of Force.

In 2018, our police department responded to 10,999 calls for service that were mental health related. Through March 27, 2019, our officers have responded to 2,951 calls for service that have been mental health related.

Our police department has made a commitment to respond to these type of calls to ensure a safe and compassionate response for our community. We have formed a collaborative relationship with the National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI), Sacramento Chapter on mental health awareness, crisis intervention training, community engagement, and outreach.

All Sacramento Police Department police officers, and select communication center personnel, have completed a 40-hour course on Crisis Intervention Training (CIT). Additionally, all of our academy graduates attend the 40-hour CIT class before they work as patrol officers. 

Last year, we created a full-time Mental Health Unit (MHU) to ensure that our department has a comprehensive approach to mental illness in our community. Our MHU consists of a Mobile Crisis Support Team (MCST) that responds to calls for service associated with individuals experiencing a mental health crisis with the goal of addressing the crisis. This team consists of a Sacramento County Division of Behavior Health licensed mental health professional and a Sacramento Police Officer. 

Additionally, in further partnership with Sacramento County and Hope Cooperative, we have a deployable Peer that is sighted within the Sacramento Police Department. The Peer helps align community members with mental health services. We are also in the process of hiring a Police Social Services Administrator who will further enhance our ability to better serve individuals with mental illness. 

The primary goals of our MHU include:

· Providing safe, compassionate, and effective responses to individuals with    mental illness. 

· Increasing public safety.

· Decreasing unnecessary hospitalization.

· Preventing unnecessary incarceration.

· Providing knowledge of, and access to resources.

· Linking individuals to on-going care.

For more information on department partnerships and resources available to our community, please visit our department webpage:

http://www.cityofsacramento.org/Police/Resources/Impact-Team

This comprehensive approach of collaboration and partnerships is an opportunity for us to maximize the likelihood of safe outcomes during mental health related calls for officers, individuals, and our community.