The original item was published from May 18, 2021 4:38 PM to March 1, 2022 12:05 AM
The Geneva Police Department regularly responds to calls for service involving those who are experiencing a mental health crisis. We spend a great deal of time training our officers to assure that our response is professional, caring, empathetic, and provides for the safest and best outcome for all parties involved.
More than 75% of our officers are Crisis Intervention Trained (CIT). This training provides our officers the tools needed to safely defuse a situation where a person is suffering from a mental health crisis.
Since 2014, we have partnered with the Association for Individual Development to provide a social worker to assist our officers and to provide mental health resources to our community. The social workers are on call 24/7 and regularly respond to assist our officers with domestic disputes, death notifications, families in crisis, and many more situations.
This year, a social worker now works out of the police facility one day per week to provide further resources to our community. Dating back to April 2020, social workers have assisted the Geneva Police Department with 148 cases involving more than 300 clients.
We have also assigned an officer within the department to act as a mental health advocate. He acts as a liaison between our social workers and officers to assure that the mental health needs of Geneva are being met.
We understand our important role as caretakers of our community. We believe that by providing these services, we are enhancing the safety and quality of life for our residents and those that work in or visit Geneva.
Eric Passarelli
Police Chief