The Tampa Police Department has introduced an innovative system to swiftly connect individuals experiencing a mental health crisis with the appropriate resources.
When someone in Tampa calls 911 due to a mental health struggle, they will now be connected to a crisis counselor like Tina Thai. “A lot of people feel alone,” Thai said. “I just want people to not feel alone and like they have a friend in this world.”
Thai is instrumental in helping TPD roll out their new crisis intervention dispatch service program. This program redirects 911 mental health crisis calls to professionals trained to handle and de-escalate the situation.
“It really helps out everybody when these organizations step up because at times, and we see it throughout the news throughout the nation, how those calls are handled is not the way we would like at the end of the day,” Deputy Chief Calvin Johnson said. He emphasized how a person experiencing a crisis with a weapon can complicate the situation.
“It changes the whole dynamic from getting them help to the officer’s safety,” he said. With this new system, specialists in these scenarios can rapidly provide resources to those in need.
“It’s very situational with a crisis—so homeless assistance, financial aid, mental health services, psychiatric care,” Thai explained. “Those are some that we’ve provided so far.”
Launched on July 1, this program has already handled 100 911 calls regarding mental health crises. The partnership with crisis counselors has managed nearly a third of these calls, allowing officers to focus on their primary duties.
For additional support, you can also call 211 to reach the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay.
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