San Mateo Police To Team With Mental Health Professionals

SAN MATEO, CA — San Mateo police will begin participating in a pilot program with mental health professionals intended to aid in de-escalating 911 calls and provide appropriate and compassionate care for non-violent individuals.

San Mateo, along with Redwood City, Daly City and South San Francisco, will begin taking part in the Community Wellness and Crisis Response Pilot Project initiated by San Mateo County on Monday.

The San Mateo Police Department is bringing in Briana Fair as its first mental health clinician.

Fair, a licensed Associate Clinical Social Worker, said in a news release she is excited to begin in the role.

"I always wanted to specifically work with police on responding to psychiatric emergency situations," Fair said. "Ideally this program will grow and decrease the negative impacts on people experiencing crisis and members of marginalized communities.”

The program will involve clinicians from the local nonprofit StarVista embedding with police officers from each city, deploying along with them on calls regarding people suspected of experiencing a mental or behavioral health crisis. The clinicians will “assess the individual and determine the best methods of immediate care” after officers declare the scene safe, according to a county news release.

“The County is proud to support such an important and necessary intervention which supports the safety of the individual in crisis and those around them,” County Manager Mike Callagy said in a news release. “This provides another option for those who need mental health care rather than incarceration or hospitalization.”

The pilot program is set for two years and will cost approximately $1.5 million. Each of the four cities will contribute $408,388 and the county will provide $468,388 for each of the two years under a cost-sharing agreement.

The program will be independently evaluated by The John W. Gardner Center for Youth and Their Communities at Stanford University.

“This program is intended to give law enforcement a resource by teaming a police officer with a mental health clinician that can help manage high-risk situations in a way that improves outcomes and public safety,” said San Mateo County Supervisor Don Horsley.