The ways in which law enforcement handles a person with mental illness is changing.

Officers are being trained to handle mentally ill persons and those having a personal crisis.

Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office mental health officer Deputy Kenneth Breakfield works hand in hand with the Spindletop Center in Beaumont and is part of a crisis response team — Assist Stabilize And Prevent. The task is to deescalate the crisis, see if the person needs immediate help and, if so, get them to a hospital. If the troubled person can be calmed, then an appointment is scheduled at Spindletop.

Breakfield, who has been in law enforcement for four years, has been trained and certified as a mental health officer.

The program Breakfield is involved with is different from the mental health care contract in place at the Jefferson County jail.

“We are proactive. We don’t just wait for the phone call that someone is in crisis. We go and do follow-ups, get them to doctor appointments at Spindletop, work with them on coping skills,” Breakfield said. “The problem we have with a lot of clients we work with is that they encounter so many obstacles and setbacks. They don’t trust people. People don’t follow through; they fail to make contact.”

The ASAP team is growing, the deputy said, adding that members are currently three such officers: One in Beaumont/Jefferson County, one in Chambers County and one in Orange County. More will be added in other counties.

Breakfield said it takes a special type of person to work with someone with mental illness.

“It’s not a career, it’s a calling,” he said. “You have to be willing to step out of your comfort zone — they (client) may not be their best self at the time. They may be unclean due to homelessness and while others are stepping over them we are reaching out a hand. I love what I do and thank God every day.”

Law enforcement’s dealings with people who have a mental health crisis has been documented, mostly negatively, across the nation.

Breakfield was involved recently with a public incident in Port Neches. He did not talk specifically about the incident, where a man barricaded himself in a home and had access to firearms. The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office SWAT team was called to the scene and an armored vehicle was parked in the middle of the street. Law enforcement tried communicating via loudspeaker. Breakfield is cognizant of the negative outcomes from similar situations and is pleased with how the recent event unfolded. The man in crisis was taken into custody without injury.

“Sometimes when you are at your lowest you are asking for help and to me that was an extreme way he cried our for help,” he said. “Thank God we have things in place, mental health officers and people who work with them.”

Capt. Heather Rowe, a 16-year veteran officer, is a mental health officer with Port Arthur Police Department.

While some larger departments have their own units and are available for home visits, getting clients to their doctor’s appointments and other related tasks, PAPD does not have that kind of money or manpower.

The department does, however, have six certified mental health peace officers.

“My goal, what I would like for our department to do, is to train at least 20 percent of patrol officers to be mental health peace officers so we will always have someone trained on duty,” Rowe said.

Resources for the mentally ill have not increased. But police departments are addressing mental health more by recognizing the need for specialized units, she said.

“If 20 percent of your population in general has some sort of mental illness the likelihood of us dealing with a mentally ill individual on a daily basis is pretty normal,” she said. “Right now, all we do is to take them to the Medical Center (of Southeast Texas) to do an emergency mental health commitment.”

The person is screened and will either stay at the hospital for treatment or transfer to Spindletop Center.

In addition, the Medical Center will not keep anyone under 21. The hospital is not equipped to deal with violent patients, which causes problems.

“When you think about it there is a small minority of mentally ill individuals that come in contact with police a majority of the time,” Rowe said. “We have several mentally ill persons who we may deal with once or twice and some we deal with on a daily basis.”

Keeping those individuals out of jail is a goal.