City Council Office
August 6, 2024
Hon. Maria Hernandez
Presiding Judge of the Superior Court
700 Civic Center Drive West
Santa Ana, CA, 92701
RE: Orange County Grand Jury Report, City of Fullerton Response
Mayor, Nicholas Dunlap
Mayor Pro Tem, Fred Jung
Shana Charles
Bruce Whitaker
Ahmad Zahra
The purpose of this letter is to provide a formal response to the Orange County Grand Jury Report, “Law Enforcement’s Response to Mental Health Calls for Service.” All cities in Orange County were identified to provide a comment to the Presiding Judge of the Superior Court on findings and recommendations.
Findings
F1: Mental health training for law enforcement officers in Orange County exceeds the State’s requirements, resulting in law enforcement applying these skills to better evaluate and handle mental health calls for services.
Response: The Respondent agrees with the findings.
From January 1, 2023 to December 31, 2023, Fullerton Police Officers completed 565.5 hours of mental health training in the following course titles:
TRAINING COURSE
Homeless Liaison Officer
Intervention & De-escalation Techniques for SROs
Learning Portal-Autism Recognition and Response
Learning Portal-De-Escalation: Enhancing Strategies for Everyday Encounters Learning Portal-Homelessness and Policing: A Collaborative Approach Learning Portal-Media Course-Mental Health: Responding to Individuals in Crisis Mental Health Crisis Intervention I
Mental Health Crisis Intervention II
Mental Health Crisis Intervention III
Mental Health Decision Making
Mental Health Intervention Training
WIC 5150 Holds - Critical Issue
F2: Law Enforcement agencies in Orange County have developed unique ways to deal with mental health calls in their communities based on their particular needs and budgets, enabling law enforcement to better serve their communities.
Response: The Respondent agrees with the findings.
The City of Fullerton Police Department (Fullerton PD) partners with the Psychiatric Emergency Response Team (PERT) and HOPE Center to have mental health clinicians arrive on mental health calls for service with police officers to help de-escalate the situation and provide resources. Fullerton PD also received $1 million from Orange County Supervisor Doug Chafee’s Supervisorial District Discretionary Grant to help fund a two-year pilot Social Worker Program. These licensed clinical social workers will be dispatched alongside or in lieu of police officers in response to mental health crises, domestic violence, or juvenile delinquency.
F3: Law Enforcement collaboration with the County PERT clinicians and Be Well mobile response units has been an effective tool when responding to mental health calls for service.
Response: The Respondent agrees with the findings.
From January 1, 2023 to December 31, 2023, Fullerton Police Department responded to 839 mental health calls for service. These calls were cleared as 5150, 5585, or contained remarks indicating a mental health issue was suspected or referenced in the following call types: 914A (attempted suicide), Welfare Check, Transient Problem, Department Assist, or 415F (Family Disturbance). Of those 839 calls, PERT was dispatched 436 times and conducted 323 evaluations. Additionally, the HOPE Center received 352 referrals from Fullerton PD and made 1,657 outreach contacts.
F4: People with mental illness respond more positively to “soft uniformed” police personnel, which can be effective in de-escalating situations.
Response: The Respondent agrees with the findings.
The City of Fullerton Police Department (Fullerton PD) partners with the Psychiatric Emergency Response Team (PERT) and HOPE Center to have mental health clinicians arrive on mental health calls for service with police officers to help de-escalate the situation and provide resources. Fullerton PD also received $1 million from Orange County Supervisor Doug Chafee’s Supervisorial District Discretionary Grant to help fund a two-year pilot Social Worker Program. These licensed clinical social workers will be dispatched alongside or in lieu of police officers in response to mental health crises, domestic violence, or juvenile delinquency.
F5: Providing follow-up case management is not only necessary but critical for the wellbeing of people experiencing mental health issues.
Response: The Respondent agrees with the findings.
As part of the aforementioned pilot Social Worker Program, licensed clinical workers will focus on crisis response, mediation, referrals to health care providers, treatment plans and case follow-ups in order to help ensure the wellbeing of people experiencing mental health issues in Fullerton.
Recommendations
Per the report, “based on its investigation, the 2023-2024 OCGJ has determined that law enforcement agencies throughout Orange County have developed unique techniques to adequately address mental health calls, thus this report does not contain recommendations.” Response: There are no recommendations to be implemented by the Respondent.
Should you have any questions or need any additional information, please contact Eric Levitt, City Manager, at (714) 738-6310 or via email at [email protected].
Sincerely,
Nicholas Dunlap
Mayor
Cc: Fullerton City Council
Eric Levitt, City Manager
Richard D. Jones, City Attorney
303 West Commonwealth Avenue, Fullerton, California 92832-1775 (714) 738-6311 [email protected] www.cityoffullerton.com