What’s better than a cop with little to no mental health training responding to someone in crisis? That same cop rolling up in a random, unmarked sedan!
During a June 15 meeting, the Santa Maria City Council approved mid-cycle budget amendments that will tack on an extra $2 million to the Police Department’s nearly $30 million piece of the general fund pie. The department plans to use part of these extra funds to buy a mental health crisis response vehicle.
“We’re in the process of working on an MOU with Behavioral Wellness to have a co-response vehicle, much like they have in the Sheriff’s Department,” Santa Maria Police Chief Marc Schneider said during the council meeting. “And ideally we want to do that with an unmarked vehicle, so when the officer and the clinician respond out to help somebody in a crisis, that they can do that in the most nonthreatening way possible.”
Look, I’m all for funding mental health crisis intervention, and having an officer arrive alongside a mental health professional sounds like a step in the right direction. But how is someone supposed to know that they’re getting help, and not being kidnapped, when the vehicle is unmarked?
Schneider explained that this plan requires a vehicle “without any decals,” but right now, “we don’t have any vehicles currently in our fleet that we can designate for that.” Since all of the department’s police vehicles already have those super threatening “Our community … your police” decals on the side, I guess the only option is to buy a new vehicle.
Wait a minute … hasn’t Schneider ever heard of a new paint job? Or decal removal?
Last year, when Santa Maria thought the pandemic would wreak havoc on tax revenues, the community was up in arms about the already barely funded library facing budget cuts. Well, turns out the city didn’t need to defund the library after all.
“Our revenues tend to be basic commodities such as our big-box retailers, vehicle sales—things that remained strong during this past year,” City Manager Jason Stilwell explained.
Big shocker! The city’s sales tax revenue did just fine because people kept going to Walmart last year.
To be fair, the library is getting part of the unanticipated tax revenue—a few hundred thousand dollars—but it appears that these budget scraps going to the Police Department would fill the library’s entire budgetary pantry, so to speak.
But remember, our uniformed police officers need a low-key vehicle to make people having mental health crises feel less threatened while they’re being arrested! And none of the current fleet will do the job because, you know ... those pesky decals.
Speaking of men in uniform, Solvang’s new electric trolley operators will be required to wear Danish attire, according to a staff report presented to the City Council. The city approved a license program for electric trolley services on June 14.
Maybe Santa Maria and Solvang should join forces and create the nation’s first mental health crisis response trolley. Personally, I’d find a man in tights and clogs to be least threatening in my time of need. m
The Canary is keen on birds in uniform. Send birdseed and juicy tips to [email protected].
