'We can't arrest our way out of this problem.' MCAT's role in Indy's mental health response

Since the beginning of the year, more than 2,000 mental health emergency response calls in Marion County have been answered by Eskenazi Health's Mobile Crisis Assistance Team (MCAT) alongside Indianapolis Metropolitan Police.

Sgt. Lance Dardeen, with the police department, said roughly half of the people encountered during those calls were experiencing a crisis and admitted to a hospital.

"We cannot arrest our way out of this problem," Dardeen said. "It requires changing the culture and having officers understand and dig a little deeper on their runs. Sometimes arrests may be appropriate, but a lot of times we can divert these people away from jails."

Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department and MCAT hosted a virtual town hall Tuesday to provide new insights into the complex challenges faced when responding to mental health related calls and how MCAT and Clinician Led Community Response (CLCR) teams collaborate to address them.

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How the MCAT team works The teams use face-to-face interventions with a person in crisis. This includes someone with suicidal ideations, psychiatric emergencies, emotional or psychological distress and substance abuse concerns.

People in crisis can be taken to a hospital by police for an emergency detention for up to a 48 hour hold. This allows a hospital to do an assessment. Families also can petition the court for someone to held up to 14 days if they are dealing with a prolonged mental health crisis.

"An example of this is a mother of a 23 year old male," Dardeen said. "She calls 911 because his behavior has been sporadic over the last few months. Our dispatchers would dispatch our first two beat officers and then MCAT would be what we call the, 'Third car.'"

Dardeen said MCAT has time to peel back the layers on these runs, vs a beat officer who would be responding to more than a dozen calls in a singular shift.

"Because lets say you have an officer at 2 o'clock in the morning," Dardeen said, "And they've been to this house numerous times. They may refer that individual to MCAT if they can't take them to the hospital."

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MCAT operates Monday through Friday with five shifts from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and two shifts from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. All six Indianapolis Metropolitan Police districts have specific teams, with the Northwest District having two teams.

"We're stacking it the best we can for the hours where we see the most need," Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Chief Chris Bailey said. "I wish we didn't have to live in a world where police have to respond to these calls and it could be up to the professionals. The hope is eventually we're out of this business all together."

From January to September of this year, there have been 2,344 active runs with 19 of those resulting in arrests. Dardeen said active run arrests were most often tied to outstanding warrants.

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Clinician Led Community Response Clinician led response is in partnership with Stepping Stones Therapy Center and the City of Indianapolis, specifically the Office of Public Health and Safety . The crisis program operates 24/7 in the Downtown and East districts of Indianapolis with a team of about two dozen members.

The city's crisis response program, made up of licensed social workers and clinicians, respond to mental health-related reports in lieu of law enforcement.

They are also dispatched by 911 when a call involves a person having a mental health crisis.

Clinician teams have responded to 710 calls between Jan. 24 and Oct. 28. Andrea Brown, with Stepping Stones Therapy Center , said expansion of the pilot program is slow and gradual as they keep collecting data.

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Herman Whitfield III: What has happened in the year since his death

The push for mental health focused response teams heightened after the death of Herman Whitfield III. Whitfield's family called for an ambulance while he was suffering a mental health episode April 25, 2022. During that interaction, police tased and handcuffed him naked and face down on the ground while he was in the throes of a mental health episode. Whitfield died shortly after arriving at a hospital.

The results of an autopsy for Whitfield, who was 39 years old, determined his death was a homicide and further ruled he died from heart failure while under law enforcement restraint.

Two officers were indicted in the case by the Marion County Prosecutor's Office. Their cases remain pending.

IndyStar journalist Sarah Nelson contributed to this report. Jade Jackson is a public safety reporter for IndyStar. at Follow her on Twitter .