Pierce County sheriff talks to Key Peninsula residents about department’s plans
Pierce County sheriff’s deputies will soon have more mental health professionals riding along with them to respond to certain calls.
The Key Peninsula Democrats regularly host guests such as elected officials, candidates and activists to engage in discussions with the community.
They recently hosted Pierce County Sheriff Ed Troyer and former Pierce County Prosecutor Mark Lindquist on Jan. 29 at the Home Fire Station.
Lindquist told the community what he’s been up to since leaving office in 2018. He’s now a full-time private practice attorney and published novelist.
Troyer spoke about county programs being planned and a House bill that could change the way officers handle traffic stops, if passed.
Mental heath co-responder program
The mental heath co-responder program embeds mental health workers with deputies.
They ride in a car with one another and go out to mental health calls, Troyer told those gathered at the fire station.
The program started in 2018. There are currently five co-responders. The department has received funding to expand the program to nine full-time positions.
“It’s hard to hire people in the mental health industry that want to get in a police car and do this work,” Troyer said. “But we’re working on getting those positions filled.”
The department has partnered with MultiCare, who hires and trains workers for the position and contracts them out to the department, Sheriff’s Department spokesperson Sgt. Darren Moss told the Gateway.
“It really takes a lot of pressure off our guys trying to resolve issues that we don’t have the skills to do,” Moss said. “Where as the co-responders are skilled in mental health issues.”
Mental health co-responders are able to identify possible symptoms they’re seeing and what kind of treatment someone may need, Moss said.
The Tacoma Police Department and Lakewood Police have their own mental heath co-responder program, Moss said.
Troyer and Heather Moss, Director of Human Services for Pierce County, are also trying to embed social workers with deputies.
That’s still in the early planning stages and has not been approved or funded at this time, Moss said.
That position would expand to calls outside of mental health incidents.
“Instead maybe it’s a kid living in the car with mom, maybe it’s an elderly person that doesn’t have power in their house,” Troyer said at the fire station. “We can bring our social services experts and handle the situation best they know how.”
Having the mental health experts and social workers out with deputies allows the situation to be handled properly and puts deputies back out in the field for other calls that need to be responded to, Troyer said.
Mobile booking vehicles
After acquiring money from the county, the department has purchased three mobile booking vehicles; a suburban, a van, and a pickup truck.
The vehicles will be able to respond to calls, run someone through the booking systems, take photographs, fingerprints, and hold a suspect in the vehicle to be transported to a facility.
Corrections deputies would be the ones operating the mobile booking vehicles, Moss said.
The mobile booking vehicles will hopefully launch this spring, Troyer told those gathered at the fire station.
“They’re unmarked cars, but they’re bulletproof and will keep our deputies safe,” Troyer said. “They look like plain street vehicles, but they’re not.”
Moss was not immediately able to provide information about how much the mobile booking vehicles cost.
Top 100
This spring the department plans to send out a strike team to collect the “Top 100” dangerous people in Pierce County, Troyer said.
“By doing this we expect to see the crime rate drop with habitual criminals,” Troyer said. “The top 100 are going to be people that we believe are habitual, out causing crime and failing drug court.”
He didn’t go into detail at the fire station about when this would happen, how they will identify the “Top 100,” or how they’ll decide who will be part of the strike team.
House bill that could impact traffic stops
Troyer also informed residents of a proposed bill that would change traffic stop regulations.
House Bill 1513 says “a police officer may not stop a driver for a nonmoving violation such as expired tabs, a misdemeanor warrant, or equipment failure unless it presents an immediate safety threat on the road.”
In theory the bill would allow officers to focus on higher priority safety issues, Troyer said.
“Another theory is that it could be discrimination against certain groups of people who may not be able to afford to fix a tail light,” Troyer said.
He did not go into detail about whether he supports this legislation.
Editor’s note: An earlier version of this article mischaracterized the origins of Pierce County’s mental health co-responder program. The program started in 2018. There are currently five co-responders. The department has received funding to expand the program to nine full-time positions.
This story was originally published February 13, 2023 at 5:00 AM.
