Local law enforcement working to connect offenders with mental health help - Action News Now
On Wednesday, Redding Police responded to reports of 31-years-old Christopher Tavarez waving a knife and making threatening statements on Shasta View and Belladonna Street.
REDDING, Calif. - On Wednesday, Redding Police responded to reports of 31-years-old Christopher Tavarez waving a knife and making threatening statements on Shasta View and Belladonna Street.
Police said this isn’t the first encounter with Tavarez.
“With this subject in particular it's something we've had multiple calls on patrol about him,” said Sgt. Timothy Renault with the Redding Police Department’s Neighborhood Police Unit.
“It's something we've been able to send the [Crisis Intervention Response Team] in there after his last arrest to reach out to him and provide with services that might be able to get him on the right track.”
The CIRT unit has met with Tavarez in the past.
“I do know that the CIRT team met him at the jail when he was released the time before last and brought him down to Hill Country to kind of reach out,” said Sgt. Renault.
“They have been following up with him with text messages and phone calls. To the extent of what he's following up on, I don’t know that.”
“You go out and you continue to build those relationships and reach out to them,” said Paige Greene, the Adult Services Branch Director with the Shasta Health & Human Services Agency.
“The day will come where they are finally open to accepting services and we don't know what day that will be and how long that will take because everybody is different.”
The Redding Police Department told Action News Now when they have someone with a history of mental or medical illness, they make sure that jail staff is aware of it.
The Shasta County Jail said it offers mental health services to inmates in need.
“We have services through Wellpath, which is our contractor that provides not only prevents medical services but also mental health services as well,” said Capt. Gene Randall, who is the Custody Division Commander at the jail.
“Currently we have two mental health professionals that see inmates regularly throughout the day.”
The jail is also working to connect offenders to resources once they're released. It’s looking to add a discharge planner to its staff through Wellpath. The jail hopes to have the discharge planner on its staff within the next month of two.
“It's always a challenge to connect offenders with resources once they're released from custody,” said Randall. “However, the discharge planner that we've added to our roster here at the jail is going to be a huge help.”
source: https://www.actionnewsnow.com/content/news/Local-law-enforcement-working-to-connect-offenders-with-mental-health-help--575859781.html
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