Delaware County is trying an experiment in law enforcement by creating county-wide mobile crisis teams of mental health experts that will be dispatched with police for calls involving someone with a mental illness, writes Kenny Cooper for WHYY.

The hope is the new crisis teams can prevent situations from turning deadly. 

“We know that from statistics about one in four people who are in the current criminal justice system have mental health issues because we’re not adequately funding mental health supports outside the criminal justice system,” said U.S. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon.

She was able to secure $650,000 in federal funds back on March 9 for the project.

This approach shifts the burden away from the schools and police forces, she said.

Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer said requests for mental health support have come from several police chiefs who say there are people every day in need of mental health services that could keep them from remaining stuck in the criminal justice system.

Mental health incidents in Delaware County are on the rise. There were 2,900 incidents in 2020 in Delco and 3,200 in 2021.

Read more at WHYY about this new mental health approach to police responses in Delaware County.