62378813.pdf

\n\n--- Page 1 ---\n\nSEMINOLE COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE NUMBER: G - 52 GENERAL ORDER RESCINDS: SUBJECT: Mental Health and Substance Abuse EFFECTIVE: March 20, 2006 REVISED: November 26, 2024 Table of Contents: I. Purpose II. Scope III Policy IV. General V. Definitions VI. Guidelines for Recognition of Mental Illness VII. Procedures for Accessing Community Health Resources VIII. Communications Responsibilities IX. Guidelines for Interacting with Persons Suspected to be Mentally Ill X. Transporting Subjects Suspected Suffering from Mental Illness XI. Documented Training XII. Intellectual Disability XIII. Memory Impaired Persons XIV. Invisible Disabilities XV. Mental Health Database XVI. Service of Ex Parte Orders XVII. Hal Marchman Act XVIII. The Crisis Intervention Team XIX. Seizure and Release of Firearms XX. Report Type Selection I. PURPOSE: This directive provides guidelines, policies and procedures for handling situations involving persons believed to be suffering from mental illness or substance abuse, pursuant to the criteria of Florida’s Baker Act or Florida’s Marchman Act, and includes guidelines for the organization and duties of the Crisis Intervention Team as well as the procedures for the seizure and return of firearms in a Baker Act situation. It is the intent of this policy to address the varying roles Deputies play in their encounters with people suffering from mental illnesses or substance abuse. As first responders and law enforcement officers, they may encounter victims, witnesses or suspects who have mental illnesses; as service personnel, they may be called upon to help people obtain psychiatric attention or other needed services. Helping people and their families obtain the services of mental health or substance abuse organizations, hospitals, clinics, and shelter care facilities is a prominent role for law enforcement. GENERAL ORDER Mental Health and Substance Abuse G-52 Page 1 of 25\n\n--- Page 2 ---\n\nII. SCOPE: All personnel will be governed by this General Order. III. POLICY: A. It is Sheriff’s Office policy to ensure a high level of service is provided to all members of its service communities. Persons suffering from mental illness or substance abuse will be treated with dignity and respect and will be given access to the same law enforcement, government and community services provided to all citizens. B. It is also Sheriff’s Office policy to deal with persons in street contacts and during interviews with understanding of, and attention to, the problems they may be experiencing with mental or emotional difficulties or substance abuse, recognizing that they may require law enforcement assistance and access to community mental health and substance abuse resources. C. Deputies will use good judgment based on training, experience, and discretion when exercising powers of arrest when interacting with person’s believed to be suffering from mental illness or substance abuse. D. Information surrounding a person’s conduct will be shared with hospital personnel involved in his/her evaluation when making an arrest, submitting a person for psychiatric evaluation, or returning the person to a mental health facility. E. Furthermore, it is the policy of the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office that the individual dignity of the person subject to a Baker Act or taken into protective custody under the Hal Marchman Act be respected at all times and upon all occasions, including any occasion when the individual is taken into custody, held, or transported for the purpose of a voluntary or involuntary examination. Procedures, facilities, vehicles, and restraining devices utilized for criminals or those accused of crime shall not be used in connection with persons who have a mental illness, except for the protection of the patient or others. Deputies will utilize good judgment in responding to resistance and the application of restraint devices to protect the individual from further harm to their person, the deputy, or others. Persons who have a mental illness but who are not charged with a criminal offense shall not be detained or incarcerated in the jails of this state. A person who is receiving treatment for mental illness shall not be deprived of any constitutional rights. IV. GENERAL: A. The Americans with Disabilities Act: The ADA entitles persons with mental illnesses or disabilities to the same services and protection that law enforcement agencies provide to anyone else. They may not be excluded from services or otherwise be provided with lesser services or protection than are provided to others. B. The ADA calls for law enforcement agencies to make reasonable adjustments and modification in their policies, practices or procedures on a case-by-case basis. For example, if a person exhibits symptoms of mental illness, expresses that he or she has a mental illness, or requests accommodation for a mental illness (such as access to medication), Deputies and dispatchers may need to modify routine practices and procedures, take more time, or show more sensitivity to extend the services or protections that would be extended to someone else in a similar circumstance. C. The Florida Mental Health Act (Baker Act): The Baker Act was enacted in 1971 to provide a bill of rights for persons with mental illnesses and GENERAL ORDER Mental Health and Substance Abuse G-52 Page 2 of 25\n\n--- Page 3 ---\n\ndue process rights for those persons for whom voluntary or involuntary procedures were initiated to provide needed treatment in time of acute illness. D. The Baker Act governs all issues related to mental illness. The definition of mental illness in Chapter 394, Florida’s Baker Act Statute specifically excludes a developmental disability as defined in chapter 393, intoxication, or conditions manifested only by antisocial behavior or substance abuse. V. DEFINITIONS: A. Assessing Threat Level: Due to the unpredictability of a person in crisis, members should rely on their observations, experience, past history of the person, and information provided by family and friends. There are many indicators that need to be used to assess dangerousness. Law enforcement officers use indicators to determine if a CIT team member will respond to a particular call. B. Baker Act: The term Baker Act refers to The Florida Mental Health Act, also known as The Baker Act, (Florida Statutes 394.451 through 394.4782) and is commonly used to refer to situations where an individual is taken into custody for the purposes of an involuntary examination pursuant to Section 394.463 Florida Statutes. C. Clinical record: All parts of the record required to be maintained and includes all medical records, progress notes, charts, and admission and discharge data, and all other information recorded by facility staff which pertains to the patient’s hospitalization or treatment. D. Crisis: A crisis is an unstable or uncertain time or state of affairs, the outcome of which will or may have a major impact on the person with a mental illness and/or the community. E. Crisis Intervention: The attempts of a CIT trained Deputy to de-escalate a mental health crisis and return the person to a pre-crisis level. F. CIT Trained Members: These members are law enforcement officers and civilians who have received specialized training in handling mental health, crisis-related calls for service. In addition to their regular duties, trained members are specifically assigned to mental health crisis disturbance calls. Trained members are assigned to each district and work in cooperation with mental health facilities and organizations. The Sheriff's Office CIT members are committed to safety, understanding, and compassion when handling mental health related calls. G. Designated receiving facility: A facility approved by the Department of Children and Families which may be a public or private hospital, crisis stabilization unit, or addictions receiving facility; which provides, at a minimum, emergency screening, evaluat