SWAMPSCOTT — The town’s police department has formed a Criminal Justice Mental Health Task Force, which is aimed at keeping people with mental-health issues out of the criminal-justice system.
Swampscott Police Det. Ted Delano was a driving force behind the creation of the new task force, which was announced by the town last Friday, according to Sgt. Jay Locke.
“It’s become abundantly clear (in) having to deal with people in criminal matters that may have mental-health issues that (they) are most in need of services (rather) than a court record,” said Locke. “It has been crazy times, the last year and a half with COVID and everything else, and unfortunately some people are slipping through the cracks. We’ve had a definite uptick in crisis calls as far as mental-health situations in Swampscott.”
Delano agreed, saying that the task force will work to ensure that those in need of help “don’t slip through the cracks.”
“It’s important that … we can identify situations where we can work towards a goal of assisting the person in crisis and helping with a sustained recovery,” said Delano.
Delano said the goal is to have a part-time clinician within the police department to help with the work that the task force is doing. Police officers will also utilize the Mental Health Communication Tool (MHCT) when responding to a call involving a voluntary or involuntary transport to a hospital due to mental or behavioral health.
The MHCT will be filled out on the scene by patrol officers. Once the person has been secured and is ready for transport to the emergency room, the patrol officer will fill out the form.
Information on the form will be based on on-site observations, along with prior knowledge and history of the individual, if available. Once the MHCT has been completed, a copy will be handed directly to the ambulance provider on scene, who will take the MHCT directly with the patient to the emergency room. The EMT will then provide the MHCT to a nurse upon arrival.
“The Swampscott Police Department Criminal Justice Mental Health Task Force utilizes an integrated public-health and public-safety collaboration to respond to individuals impacted by behavioral health, support officer wellness, develop policy and procedure and improve communication across behavioral health and criminal-justice partners,” reads the mission statement for the task force.
