Saline County Sheriff Glen Kochanowski said a program he has implemented to determine whether a person is mentally ill could slightly reduce the county's jail crowding.
Kochanowski told Saline County commissioners Tuesday during a study session that several of his deputies and jailers are trained in Crisis Intervention Training (CIT), a program that allows them to evaluate an individual in the field for mental health issues. The deputy or jailer then calls a place that works with people with mental issues.
Kochanowski offered the hypothetical example of a man who was picked up for urinating in a public parking lot. He said the man wouldn't immediately be taken to jail.
"We would talk to him, look to see his history and see if he has mental health issues," he said. "Then we would find somewhere to see if he can get help."
Kochanowski said he doesn't know whether the program will have much effect on the jail population.
"Many of the crimes (people with mental health issues) commit are too serious to let them out," Kochanowski said.
He said prisoners with mental health issues are often taken to the Larned Correctional Mental Health Facility or other state-sanctioned facilities.
"We have nowhere in town to take them," Kochanowski said. He said state cuts have also closed many of the state mental health facilities.
Kochanowski said the sheriff's office makes "one or two trips" to Larned each week. He said deputies recently took three people to Larned in one trip.
Need support from police
Annie Grevas, director of community corrections, said the program would need a "buy-in" from the Salina Police Department.
"It is just easier for them to bring them in than make a street assessment," Kochanowski said.
Kochanowski said he hopes to talk to Salina Police Chief Jim Hill about getting some of his officers trained to assess mental health of individuals.
"I'm not going to provide all of the CIT people for the entire county," Kochanowski said.
Meeting set for Dec. 12
Commissioners, Grevas and Kochanowski also have discussed drug courts, sanction houses and house arrest programs in recent months as ways to alleviate jail crowding.
The issue will be discussed by representatives of the courts, city and county at a meeting Dec. 12. Kochanowski and commissioners said they hope the group can begin to look at ways to reduce the jail population through alternative methods.
Copyright 2011 - The Salina Journal, Kan.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
