Monterey >> Monterey Police Chief Dave Hober says he’s committed to making sure all his employees attend crisis intervention training, which helps officers deal with incidents involving people dealing with mental illness, such as the one Tuesday that resulted in a fatal shooting.
Police officer Zach Reed fatally shot Donald Thomas Miller II on Tuesday near Custom House Plaza after Miller reportedly stole and brandished a nonfunctional antique revolver, frightening people nearby who thought he had a real weapon. Monterey County District Attorney Dean Flippo said Miller appeared to have serious mental health issues. Flippo said he believed Miller had been living in his vehicle.
According to Hober, it was the first officer-involved shooting since 1998. The chief said he can’t discuss Reed’s status or when he will return from administrative leave.
While Hober couldn’t discuss specifics of the case as the DA’s office continues its investigation, he said the Police Department does have general policies and procedures in place on how officers should deal with people facing mental health issues.
“They don’t address every single issue, but we do send our people to training,” Hober said.
On top of training officers receive at police academies, Hober said he’s trying to send as many officers as possible to weeklong crisis intervention training.
“When they go through that, they learn about all of the different issues; some of the different things that people (who suffer from mental illness) suffer from. … And (they learn) how to try and defuse some of those things,” Hober said.
Hober said the training includes talks from professionals in the mental health field coming in to explain things as well as experts who explain the laws such as when you can and cannot take people in for mental health evaluations. He said the criteria for bringing someone in, which is basically when people are a risk to themselves or to others, is a high-level criteria.
“When things like this happen, people ask us: ‘Well, my God, he was showing these things, why didn’t you take him (in for a mental health evaluation)?’ Well, it’s hard to show he’s a danger to himself unless he says, ‘I’m going to kill myself.’ Well, that’s easy. If somebody says that, we take them,” Hober said. “Or, (it’s easy when somebody says), ‘I’m going to kill other people.’ Well, most of the time they are acting strange, but they aren’t saying those kinds of things or doing those kinds of things. They are just acting a little strange.”
Hober said many of his officers have already attended crisis intervention training, on top of other programs or classes.
“We do have programs here in Monterey specifically,” Hober said. “We have an outreach program where we meet every month with mental health professionals, mostly to help us deal with our homeless people so that instead of us just incarcerating them, we’re trying to get them help so they can find housing. For the ones who suffer from mental illness, often what we find is they aren’t taking their meds and they self-medicate using other illicit drugs or alcohol.”
Alan “A.J.” Cochran, a homeless man who lives in Monterey, said he feels bullied at times by Monterey police, though he said he thinks homeless people are treated better in Monterey than in Santa Cruz.
“It’s hard living out here, man,” he said. “The last thing we need is (the police) pressing our buttons over every little stupid thing.”
Brian Bajari, a pastor who runs Church on the Beach services for homeless people in Monterey, said he hopes the community realizes the realities of mental health and people who are living outside in the wake of Miller’s death.
“Not everyone (living outside) has a mental health disease or problem, but we need more organizations to take care of people who are on the verge of a psychotic break,” he said. “That’s something we need to be concerned about.”
Tommy Wright can be reached at 726-4375.
