CIT Officer of the Quarter Sergeant Kenny Li, Jr. Sergeant Kenny Li, Jr., of the Jail Division, received the CIT Officer of the Quarter Award for the first quarter of 2014. The award is a collaborative effort between the Mental Health Division and the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) Greater Houston.

Sergeant Li received the award for a call he responded to as an officer while at the Midwest Division and prior to being promoted. Officer Li checked by on a suicide in-progress call at a five-story

dentist building. A male walked into the building and up to the fifth floor where he sat on a narrow outside ledge and threatened to jump. The male was crying and very distraught. Officer Li engaged the male in conversation and actively listened while the male told Officer Li of several past and recent problems that led to him sitting on the ledge and wanting to commit suicide. The problems included past physical abuse, psychosis, and depression.

Officer Li, practicing his crisis intervention/de-escalation training, talked to the male for approximately 20 minutes and was able to talk him off the ledge. The suicidal male was then taken to the NeuroPsychiatric Center for emergency psychiatric evaluation and treatment.

Sergeant Li is hereby recognized for his outstanding performance as a Houston CIT officer. Keep up the Good Work!!!

(left to right) Captain Wendy Baimbridge, Mental Health Division; Mr. Dick Easterwood, President of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) Greater Houston; Sergeant Kenny Li, Jr., Jail Division.

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Police Week Awards Luncheon Four MHD Personnel Receive Awards

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Officer Rebecca Brown Instructor of the Year

Houston was one of six police departments nationally to be selected as a learning site for specialized policing responses for the mentally ill by the United States Council of State Governments (CSG). As a learning site, Houston hosts visitors from law enforcement agencies across the nation who want to learn about Houston’s response strategies and provides training and training materials to law enforcement and mental health organizations nationally and internationally. Officer Brown coordinates this program. As coordinator, Officer Brown prepares reports for the CSG and department, maintains statistics, and schedules site visits and training. !During 2013, Officer Brown and her partner Senior Officer Frank Webb taught 525 personnel from over 136 agencies (law enforcement, corrections, and mental health) through the learning site program. !Within the department in 2013, Officer Brown provided the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement’s Mental Health Peace Officer course to 274 cadets and veteran officers, taught the state-mandated Intermediate CIT class to over 1000 personnel, taught an eight-hour class on mental illness to 274 new-hire jail personnel, taught a four-hour class on suicide prevention to veteran jail personnel, and taught a class on mental illness/Houston’s CIT program to 46 new dispatchers and call-takers. !

Officer Reginald Dunn CIT Officer of the Year

Officer Reginald Dunn has been a Crisis Intervention Response Team (CIRT) officer for five years and has consistently been one of the most productive officers on the team. In 2013, Officer Dunn led the Mental Health Division (MHD) in two critical areas: calls-for-service (727) and emergency detention orders (241). !Officer Dunn and his clinician partner Michael Hawkins have responded to numerous situations involving individuals is severe crisis. One such call occurred in May 2013. The MHD received a call from the Houston FBI office asking for assistance regarding a posted “You Tube” video where a mentally disturbed individual made threatening statements about carrying out a “Sandy Hook”style elementary school shooting. The video included rants and raves indicating the individual was depressed, angry, and paranoid. Officer Dunn and Clinician Hawkins viewed the videos and conducted an in-depth interview with the individual. Based on what they saw on the videos and their interview, Officer Dunn and Clinician Hawkins determined the individual posed a danger to himself and others so he was transported to the NeuroPsychiatric Center on an emergency detention order. It is very likely a tragedy was averted. !Officer Dunn and his partner are highly respected in both the division and the department for their professionalism, expertise, commitment, and dedication to duty.

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Police Week Awards Luncheon (continued) !

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Senior Officer Doug Anders Senior Police Officer of the Year

Since the program’s inception in 1999, CIT officers have voiced concerns about facilities that house individuals with disabilities. The list of concerns has varied and ranged from inadequate training of facility personnel/staff, numerous calls-for-service to certain locations, financial swindles, physical abuse, neglect, and covert misrepresentation to victims’ loved ones. !Once assigned to the Mental Health Unit, Senior Police Officer (SPO) Doug Anders began the arduous task of developing and writing a city ordinance to regulate such facilities. After three years of persistence on this extremely complex issue, SPO Anders succeeded in having the City’s first-ever Boarding Homes Ordinance passed and adopted by City Council on July 24, 2013. SPO Anders accomplished this feat by collaborating with several community entities: Houston City Council, Houston Fire Department, Houston Health Department, Administration and Regulatory Affairs, Public Works, Disability Rights Texas, Adult Protective Services, Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services, and the Harris County District Attorney’s Office. !The ordinance created a registration process which will incorporate access to the facilities by the Houston Police Department Mental Health Division (MHD), background checks for staff and caregivers, annual fire inspections, a mandatory fire evacuation plan, mandatory record-keeping, and a requirement to report criminal activity and deaths. Thanks to the efforts of SPO Anders, the city and police department have a fundamental tool for use in helping elevate the quality of life for individuals living in these facilities. !

Sergeant George Mixon Administrative Classified

Employee of the Year

In May of 2013, the Mental Health Unit was elevated from unit to divisional status. Sergeant Mixon transferred into the division with the goal of setting up and establishing HPD’s newest addition to the organizational chart. He began the arduous tasks of: !• Drafting new Standard Operating Procedures for

the division • Amending existing procedures to mirror new

responsibilities • Writing circulars noting legislative changes

pertaining to mental health • Assisting with the interview processes to fill

existing positions and new allocations • Establ ishing var ious monthly report ing

mechanisms fo r in te rna l and ex te rna l accountability

• Helping to develop the divisional budget • Directing and supervising the scanning of five

years of paper files • Providing vital assistance with the update of

General Order 500-12, Persons Affected with Mental Illness !

Officers who were assigned to the MHD prior to the transition from unit to division have positively commented on the seamless transition and how the change has enabled them to work solely on operations because administrative duties were reassigned. The formation of the MHD would not have been possible without the hard work, dedication, and close attention to detail displayed by Sergeant Mixon.

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MHDNEWS Mental Health Division 150 N. Chenevert Street, Suite 200 Houston, Texas 77002 832-394-4200

Visit our website at: www.houstoncit.org

(Front row seated left to right: Officer Rebecca Brown, Houston Police Department, Mental Health Division; Randy Smith, Chief of Police, South Padre Island Police Department; Mr. Bill DiLibero, City Manager, South Padre Island; and Senior Officer Frank Webb, Houston Police Department, Mental Health Division). The Houston Police Department provided the state Mental Health Peace Officer class to law enforcement personnel from several agencies in South Padre Island, Texas, the week of April 21-25. The training was provided through the United States Council of State Governments Learning Site Program. Houston was one of six police departments nationally to be selected as a learning site for specialized police responses for the mentally ill. As a learning site, Houston provides training to law enforcement agencies across the state and throughout the nation.

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