Have you ever considered allowing Robert Downey Jr. to perform neurological or heart surgery on you or a loved one? How about recruiting someone with a Ph.D. in interior design to defend you on trial for a crime you didn’t commit?
If you wouldn’t, why do we allow someone who doesn’t have years of mental health training and expertise to handle emergency psychological crisis calls? We are doing our great state of Utah a disservice by allowing police officers with minimal mental health de-escalation training to respond to our citizens who are experiencing these unbalanced moments.
In 2022, it was reported that nearly 26.86% of adults living in Utah are experiencing some sort of mental illness issues including substance abuse and thoughts of suicide. This fact indicates that at least a quarter of our population is at a high risk of needing emergency mental health interventions provided by first responders.
We need to be funding, employing and sending mental health professionals to respond to these emergency calls while also having police officers do what they are trained to do and assess for the initial and ongoing safety of the physical environment. If we were to see a department that focused on working together to keep physical and mental emergencies safe utilizing the most qualified individuals for the job, we could see a decrease in repeat calls due to mental health issues and a more resilient population.
As long as we keep trying to defund the police instead of adding to the resources provided, our mental and physical safety as a state will continue to decline. Let’s work together to overcome the obstacles that Utahns who are living with mental illness fight every day.
Christy Peterson, Brigham City