SPD: mental health calls trending down

While appearing on Sheridan Media’s Public Pulse program, Sheridan Police Department Chief Travis Koltiska and Captain Tom Ringley told listeners that in the year 2022, the SPD responded to 934 total mental health call incidents in the city. 

Chief Koltiska began by informing the public on what defines a mental health call to the dispatch center. 

In most instances, Sheridan Police Department officers are the first on the scene during times of mental health crisis. On Jan. 20, 2021, officers of the Sheridan PD received training in techniques to deescalate those situations. 

Police officers are not mental health experts. The officers are trained to protect human life and enforce the laws of the community. In some situations the life they are working to protect may be experiencing a crisis.

According to Ringley, of the 934 mental health calls, 555 of those were welfare checks, down from 675 incidents in 2021; 97 were individuals in mental crisis, down from 106 incidents in 2021; 88 were suicidal individuales, down from 128 incidents in 2021; and 22 were suicidal attempts that had been made by individuals, down from 25 attempts in 2021. 

If you or someone you know is in immediate danger of harming themselves, please call 911. If you or someone you know is experiencing suicidal thoughts, call the U.S. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or text “WYO” to 741-741 for the Crisis Text Line.