Clemson University Police, criminal justice professors working to improve mental health crisis responses

August 29, 2024August 29, 2024

Since 2019, Bryan Miller, professor and associate dean of research and graduate studies for the College of Behavioral, Social and Health Sciences, has been working with the Clemson University Police Department (CUPD) to revamp its responses to mental health crisis calls.

Through funding from two grants, the project team has created co-responder units, provided additional mental health training for officers and offered mental health support for veterans.

Miller received the first grant from the Justice Mental Health Collaboration Program in 2019 and the second grant, Connect and Protect: Law Enforcement Behavioral Response Program, in 2022 from the Bureau of Justice Assistance. Both grants were awarded to support the development of a collaborative community law enforcement and mental health strategy to improve police responses and connections for people with mental health and co-occurring disorders.

In partnership with Clemson's Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Criminal Justice, Clemson University Counseling and Psychological Services, South Carolina Department of Mental Health and local law enforcement agencies, the Connect and Protect project will allow CUPD to develop two co-responder teams of certified mental health clinicians and police officers specifically trained in mental health response. Miller and Kyle McLean, associate professor in the sociology, anthropology and criminal justice department and associate director of the Center for Criminal Justice and Social Research, are collecting data on CUPD interactions and use virtual reality training equipment to evaluate the co-responder training and efficacy.

In its second year, Miller said the Connect and Protect project has been successful in changing the way the CUPD and other Upstate agencies respond to mental health crises.

"Through the planning and collaboration grant, I was extremely excited to see CUPD form a strong partnership with the South Carolina Department of Mental Health. This collaboration led to additional funding of over half a million dollars to implement co-responder teams and further establish themselves as a regional leader in providing evidence-based training for surrounding agencies to enhance public safety," said Miller.

How the police respond to mental health calls

The project supports two co-responder clinicians, and the first was hired by the South Carolina Department of Mental Health (SCDMH) in June 2024 and began working with CUPD in July 2024. Currently, the clinician is riding alongside designated co-responder officers and working varied duty hours to support police response to calls for service. SCDMH is still actively advertising for the remaining co-response clinician position.

"There are times when a crime has occurred during a mental health crisis event, and that aspect must be addressed, but often, the issue at hand is a lack of resources, support or awareness," said Deputy Chief Christopher Harrington of the Clemson University Police Department. "The co-responder clinician model supports diversion from jail and emergency room (ER) settings when possible and creates opportunities for referral to resources, warm hand-offs to continued care and stabilization, as historical approaches to arrest and transport to the ER may not be the best approach to address the underlying issues."

The two grant projects have also resulted in a comprehensive review and revision of department standard operating procedures and general orders to provide clearer guidance to officers responding to mental and behavioral health crises with a greater degree of instruction on the utilization of mental health response resources such as co-responder teams, Mobile Crisis Units and navigating the detention order and commitment process when necessary.

"The goal of the project - and benefit for the community - is to enhance crisis de-escalation, increase connections to service and reduce criminal justice outcomes including arrests and detention," said Miller. "Ultimately, our goal is to increase community and law enforcement safety."

How Clemson University police officers have been trained

Since starting the first grant project, CUPD has hosted seven Crisis Intervention Training (CIT) courses. Through this training and attendance at other CIT courses locally when needed, CUPD has trained 75 department personnel in CIT. Additionally, approximately 48 officers and non-sworn personnel from other agencies across the region have been able to attend this program through the courses CUPD has hosted in conjunction with the South Carolina chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness as part of both grant projects. CUPD has trained 54 department personnel in Mental Health First Aid through these same programs.

How Clemson University police help veterans in a mental health crisis

After reviewing the results of the first project and starting the second project, the police department administration identified the need to develop a training program geared toward responding to crisis among the veteran community. This new program is called the CUPD Battle Buddy Program and is designed to have officers with prior military service respond to calls involving military veterans in crisis or experiencing some type of situational stressor.

CUPD first learned of a similarly focused program run by the Joliet, Illinois, police department and saw the value of the program. Through engagement with the Joliet police department, CUPDß identified department personnel with prior military service to serve as the primary Battle Buddy responders and developed a lesson plan to train all department staff on veteran crisis response and local and national resources supporting veteran needs.

The program is named for the common term in military service of having a "Battle Buddy" as your back-up, partner and support person. Officer veterans use this shared experience to connect with veterans in crisis through the bonds of military service in an effort to provide positive outcomes for veterans in need.

How the Clemson University Police Department is committed to helping others

Between the first and second grant projects, officers from CUPD and across the region have received the Crisis Intervention Training and Mental Health First Aid training programs. The police department has also implemented the CUPD Battle Buddy program, Integrating Communication, Assessment and Tactics (ICAT) and Active Bystandership for Law Enforcement (ABLE) which significantly enhances officer recognition of crisis events and equips officers with the tools to effectively respond with understanding and empathy and places de-escalation and support at the forefront of response.

"To an extent, this project will never be 'finished,' as mental health crisis response will continue long after the conclusion of the project period," said Harrington. "Our goal for this program is to demonstrate efficacy in outcomes and value-added as a real-time response framework for this region, garnering support for continuation - whether in partnership with SCDMH, through additional funding for an SCDMH-run program or a hybrid model that can be successfully adopted and implemented by agencies across the Upstate."

The Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Criminal Justice is in the College of Behavioral, Social and Health Sciences (CBSHS). Established in July 2016, CBSHS is a 21st-century, land-grant college that combines work in nine disciplines - communication; nursing; parks, recreation and tourism management; political science; psychology; public health sciences; sociology, anthropology and criminal justice - to further its mission of "building people and communities" in South Carolina and beyond.

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