In 2019, Las Vegas resident Roy Scott was handcuffed and restrained by police after he called 911 with paranoid delusions. Scott lost consciousness and later died at a hospital.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in July that officers who were involved don’t have qualified immunity, which protects police from legal liability, because they weren't responding to a crime. That decision is changing policies at sheriffs’ departments in California.
Del Norte County Sheriff Garrett Scott said the ruling means that if a law isn’t being broken, his deputies will no longer act as first responders for mental health emergencies.
“We've been kind of the catchall for everything over the years. And we've always enjoyed that, being the ones that could show up and help in every situation,” said Scott. “Now, the courts are not necessarily seeing it that way.”
Scott says officers will still respond when public safety is threatened and can still set up perimeters when a firearm is involved. But other emergency workers must make first contact when a crime isn't suspected.
“Your fire personnel, your ambulance personnel and your hospital personnel, they've got to understand that it's not that law enforcement doesn't want to respond. It's that they can't. There's no protections for them,” said Scott.
A police officer can be held liable, he said, not only for using force in mental health emergencies but also for traffic accidents while responding to a call or in cases of "suicide by cop."
The Ninth Circuit decision impacts departments in seven western states, including California and Oregon.
Last month, Sacramento County Sheriff Jim Cooper announced his department would also no longer respond to mental health calls when a crime isn’t suspected.
CBS13 reported that the Sacramento Metro Fire chief, who blamed the court decision, has said changes in police policy have increased the risk to firefighters responding to emergencies.
Del Norte launched a new mobile unit for mental health and substance use crises last month. The Providing Access to Hope program involves a behavioral health specialist and a certified peer support specialist trained to respond to emergencies.
Sheriff Scott, who said his officers have been involved in disengagement and crisis intervention training for years, said that more resources need to be provided for mental health care in Del Norte county.
“If the courts are going to give those directives and rulings, the states have to step up and send the funding to curtail these issues with mental health,” Scott said.
He said it can sometimes take over a week to find a bed at a state facility for people facing a mental health crisis. Until a spot is found, those individuals are held in a local hospital.
