Watsonville Police train to deal with mental illness

A Treatment Advocacy Center study shows people who have untreated mental illness are about 16 times more likely to be killed by police during an encounter.

In Salinas, a police standoff ended in the death of a woman last Friday after negotiations broke down, according to authorities. The woman had battled drug addiction and severe depression.

Mental illness can often play a role in officer-involved shootings.

“It’s becoming much more obvious to the community that there are folks out there that have many challenges around mental health,” said Jasmine Najera, a behavioral health program manager at Santa Cruz County.

For Watsonville Police, understanding what goes through the mind of someone with a serious mental health problem, and how to best de-escalate a situation, is paramount.

“If you went back 15 or 20 years ago and we had a subject like we had on top of a car refusing to come down, it was most likely physical force would be immediately used,” said Sgt. Donny Thul, who works at the Watsonville Police Department.

The interviews and incidents referenced were given through the Watsonville Police and all occurred prior to the recent officer-involved shooting in Salinas.

Watsonville officers have all been trained by county behavioral specialists on how to respond to people with mental illness. The department even has a trained clinician who can work with police in the field if needed.

“It’s important for officers to understand why somebody might not be responding to their commands or their direction, and it may not always be because they don’t want to,” said Najera.

“Every call that we go to is different and we’re not always going to treat the same call every time,” said Thul.

Thul is the crisis negotiation team leader for Watsonville Police, and whether he deals with mental health issues or substance abuse disorders, he see a lot on the streets.

Thul says it is important to take the time to calm things down in these situations and try to do everything possible without using force.

“Ultimately, what we want to do is protect peoples property, their safety, and if somebody is imposing an immediate threat to themselves, the public or our officers, we are going to slow things down,” he said.

And apparently, Brenda Rodriguez Mendoza, the woman killed in the Salinas standoff last Friday, was living out of a car.

National numbers show about 46 percent of homeless adults deal with severe mental illness or substance abuse disorders.